


Operation: Santa

by fumitxl



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Christmas, Drama & Romance, Evil Mirajane... I'm Sorry, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Kissing, Romantic Comedy, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-27
Updated: 2016-10-27
Packaged: 2018-08-27 08:01:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 31,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8393566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fumitxl/pseuds/fumitxl
Summary: The guild is buzzing with activity preparing for their annual Christmas Eve party and everyone is lending a hand, except for one person. Nobody will let Natsu help with anything. Lucy sympathizes and decides to help him find something to do. But what she didn't know was that it would involve a lot of shopping, being alone with Natsu for 5 days, and becoming Santa!





	1. Chapter 1

The Christmas tree stood proudly in the centre of the guild. Lush and green, it was a magnificent structure that stretched all the way to the ceiling of the hall. _And probably the cause of the tree-shaped hole where the entrance used to be_ , Lucy thought to herself, sweat dropping. She shivered as a strong breeze swept through the guild from that exact same hole. Apparently, Erza had hauled it back after one of her a solo missions; a gift from the townsfolk.

While it was ridiculously impractical – taking up too much room and constantly shedding leaves across the guild floor, not to mention that dratted hole in the doorway – it was undeniably gorgeous. It reminded Lucy of her childhood Christmases when her parents would bring in the largest Christmas tree on their estate. The three of them would decorate it together then her father would host a giant Christmas party.

Even though the circumstances were different now, some things still remained the same. Like the cheerful laughter that filled the air, the anticipation for presents upon seeing the bare tree bottom, and of course, the giant celebration.

"Princess, am I doing this right?" a voice called from above. Virgo was perched on the top of the tree, holding a large star that Mira had dug up from the guild's storage.

"Right, just lower it slowly onto the top of the tree", Lucy instructed. "That's great!" she clapped her hands excitedly when it landed perfectly.

Even though there were still 5 days until it actually happened, the guild was already buzzing with activity preparing for the big party. It was allegedly going to be Fairy Tail's greatest one yet, and everyone was lending a hand. Lucy had volunteered to decorate the tree, along with most others.

As Virgo vanished back to the spirit world, Lucy waved to Levy and Lily, whom were hovering in the air to her right. The words _tinsel_ and _lights_ were appearing and disappearing rapidly as the respective objects appeared perfectly onto the tree. On her left were Wendy and Charle whom were hanging decorations the old fashioned way.

Below were an assortment of guild members; Droy who was making holly grow all over the tree, Freed who was casting runes (though she had no idea what that was for), and even Gajeel whom she suspected had been 'convinced' by a certain blue-haired mage to help out. He had a sullen-expression on his face as he reinforced the tree trunk with metal to prevent it from toppling over, though a slight blush crept up his cheeks when said mage landed next to him to help.

While Lucy mentally stored that image into her mind for future teasing and/or blackmail, she felt a pair of warm hands hug her from behind.

"LU-UCY, I'M BORED", the voice shouted into her back.

Wriggling out of the strong grasp, she turned around to see just the person she had suspected. The pink-haired (or salmon, as he would tell you) fire mage had his arms crossed and he was pouting. "Aren't you helping out with anything?" she asked.

"Nobody will let me." he whined, stomping his feet and plopping down grumpily onto the nearest chair.

Suppressing a giggle at his childish behaviour, Lucy closed the gap between them and ruffled his hair. "Why not?" Though in hindsight, she wasn't thinking when she asked that question.

It didn't take much imagination for images to begin flooding into her mind; Natsu setting the tree on fire, Natsu burning the cooking, Natsu getting tangled in the decorations, Natsu beginning a brawl that would surely destroy everything. Lucy held up one hand for silence before he could even open his mouth to reply. "Nevermind", she said.

"It's not fair!" he began to stomp his feet again. "Why is it only me that doesn't get to do anything? If I even touch something, Erza will attack me." He shuddered at that. "Even _Gray_ gets to help. It's. Not. Fair!" he repeated louder to make his point.

Lucy looked at the person before her. _Is he a child?_ , she thought not for the first time since they had met. "Well, why don't we find something that only you can do? Then they can't reject you."

Natsu visibly cheered up at that, and he shot her his signature grin.

"Let's start -," she scanned the guild, wondering where would be the safest place to bring her partner. "Uh, why don't we ask Mira?" she said, after spotting the cheerful takeover mage at her usual spot at the bar.

At that suggestion, Natsu immediately bolted off his seat and began racing towards the bar, yelling "MIRA! MIRA!" at the top of his voice. Lucy just stared after her best friend, wondering what she was getting herself into.

* * *

"MIIIRRRAAAAA" Natsu yelled, running at full speed towards the white-haired barmaid, his loud presence causing a few other guild members to look up from their work.

"Hey Mira," Lucy greeted, finally catching up with him at the bar. "Is there anything Natsu can do around here to help?" she asked, leaning against the bar to catch her breath. Meanwhile, the person in question bounced on the nearest bar stool expectantly.

"Hi Lucy, Natsu." She smiled at them in turn. "Things that Natsu can do, huh? Let me think." Mira placed a finger to her chin thoughtfully.

After awhile, she began mumbling to herself. "Cooking? No. Decorating? No. Entertainment…", she suddenly shuddered. "…no." Lucy didn't want to know what happened _that_ year. "Christmas card delivering? No. Cleaning? No. Gift shopping..."

"I got it!" she suddenly exclaimed. "Why don't you and Natsu run the guild's Santa Operation this year?" The two partners cocked their heads to the side confusedly.

"Santa Operation?" they asked simultaneously.

"Yes!" Mira beamed at them. "You know how everyone receives presents from 'Santa' every year?" The two nodded. Lucy recalled receiving a beautiful necklace during her first year here, then a book she'd always wanted during the second. All the gifts were always perfect and she had begun to anticipate 'Santa's' gifts every year since.

"Well, actually," she leaned in to whisper. "It's me who buys those presents every year using the guild's funds, but this year I don't think I'll have the time." she had a worried expression on her face. "But if you and Natsu take over for me, we'll surely make it in time for Christmas!"

"Sounds like fun!" Natsu immediately agreed.

"Wait wait wait wait wait, _you're Santa_?" she said loudly.

"Shhhhhh" Mira placed a finger across Lucy's mouth and winked

"And what do you mean _me_ and Natsu? Isn't this _Natsu's_ job?" Lucy whispered loudly. "Hold on, if you're using the guild's funds to buy the presents… isn't the guild in debt?" she exclaimed horrified.

Mira waved her hand non-chalantly and smiled. "You should go with Natsu, then I can rest easy that he won't get into too much trouble."

 _What happened to the last part of the question?_ , Lucy thought, sweat dropping for the second time that day.

"Okay… Say I agree, how will we know what to buy for everyone?"

"Oh, I made a list for that!" Mira pulled it out from behind her back and rolled it out. The two pairs of eyes followed the ever expanding list as it rolled past the bar top, pass the Christmas tree, and right out of the guild. Lucy stared at the list, her face paling, while Natsu jumped out of his seat in excitement.

"Alright, this'll make it easy!" he said.

"No way! It will take forever to buy everything on this list!" she wailed.

"Don't worry, Lucy. Most of the things on this list are in the same towns, and they're all not too far from Magnolia. You'll be back before Christmas Eve, I can guarantee you." Mira said, passing her the rolled up list.

"Wait a minute. TOWNS?!" Lucy exclaimed, feeling her soul leave her body. She did _not_ sign up for this!

"C'mon Lucy, it'll be fun!" Natsu pulled on her hand, looking at her with puppy dog eyes.

"Please, Lucy?" Mirajane joined in too, flashing her best pity-inducing look at the celestial mage.

Looking at the two, Lucy realised there was no way out of this. She groaned. "Fine, let's go." she said dully, grabbing the list from a delighted Mirajane.

Natsu whooped, dancing around the bar and chanting something that sounded like "I'm being useful, I'm being useful", while Lucy slumped tiredly onto the bar top, listening to Mira talk about the route they would be taking, their transportation schedule, where they would be staying…

 _There goes my pre-Christmas relaxation time_ , Lucy thought dejectedly.


	2. Day 1

Lucy was waiting for Natsu at Magnolia's only train station. She still couldn't believe that they were actually doing this. She had planned to relax before Christmas, do some leisurely gift shopping, maybe bake some Christmas goodies… I mean, there was a reason why she volunteered to decorate the Christmas tree; it was the easiest and fastest job! But now, thanks to her _partner_ , she was waiting in this vacant – and _freezing cold_ – train station first thing in the morning.

They had agreed to meet there after she had kicked him out of her apartment for the umpteenth time that month. _You'd think he'd get the message by now_ , she thought to herself as she recalled all the times she had kicked him out of her home since they first met. Ironically, kicking him out only worsened things, and now it had gotten to the point where he would even dare to climb into bed with her. She closed her hand into a fist and shook it at the sky, to whatever dragon god that caused Natsu to be this way.

A part of her had to admit, though, that there _were_ some benefits of having a personal heater during this time of the year, not that she would ever tell anybody that. It was bad enough that Natsu kept breaking into her house – a declaration like that would only encourage him further – but if the people at the _guild_ ever heard of this. Oh, she would never live it down. She imagined Mirajane planning their wedding, Erza, Cana and Levy fighting for bridesmaid rights, and Natsu with one hand around her waist, and starting fights with everyone who looked her way. She shuddered.

"Yo, Lucy!" Speak of the devil. The fire dragon slayer was running towards her wearing his usual outfit since the Grand Magic Games, a one-sleeved top and his usual baggy pants. The cold _literally_ did not bother him, she noted, seeing the snow around him melt with every step he took.

"Hey Natsu, where's Happy?" she asked, noticing a lack of furriness in the vicinity.

"He wasn't at home when I went there, and he wasn't at the guild. Mira said he, Charle and Wendy went to send Christmas cards or somethin'."

"Looks like it's just the two of us then…" She felt a bead of suspicion, but she brushed it off when he continued to talk.

"Mm!" he beamed. "So, where to first?"

"Well," Lucy consulted the map Mira gave them. "First stop is this small town named Garnidelia." She pointed at a dot marked with a red X on the map. "It's an hour's journey by train."

"Wait, we're travelling by train?!" Natsu exclaimed horrified.

"Uh, why else would I ask you to meet me at a _train_ station?" Lucy replied sarcastically, one hand on her hip.

"How would _I_ know?!" Natsu's voice went up a notch when he saw the train approaching the station. "Can't we walk?" he begged, now on his knees for a last ditch effort.

"Walk in this cold? Are you crazy?" Lucy cocked her eyebrow at him.

"Please, Lu-ucy" He tugged harder on her ankles.

"You know, taking on this errand was _your_ idea." She pointed out.

"I know, but that doesn't mean we have to take _transportation_!" he squeaked as the train pulled into the station.

"Then how else do you expect us to get there?"

"…walk?" he tried again.

"No." Lucy repeated curtly, boarding the train, bag in one hand and an already sickly-looking dragon slayer in the other.

* * *

"Sweet, sweet ground!" Natsu gasped when he tumbled out of the train. "Sweet, unmoving ground!" He kissed the snow, immediately causing it to melt. Then he rolled over onto his back and closed his eyes in bliss.

"Natsu! What are you doing?" Lucy said exasperatedly, exiting the train just in time to witness the spectacle. _Leave him alone for one minute and he goes and declares himself as a tourist attraction,_ she rolled her eyes. She shooed away the people who had gathered to gawk at his snow melting capabilities.

She reached out one hand to pull him up, but much to her embarrassment, he began staring at her intently from his place on the ground instead.

His eyes had sharpened, taking on the intense gaze that was usually reserved for battles. Lucy found that she could not move. _What's with him, suddenly?,_ she thought. His eyes continued to travel up and down her body, and she suddenly had the greatest urge to cover herself up, or run away.

"Aren't you cold?" he finally asked, the puddle slowly evaporating.

Her heart jolted in shock at the question before she could answer. "No, I'm wearing tights. See? Tights", she stuck out her leg to him.

No answer. He continued to scrutinise her, his eyes now glued in the general direction of her mini skirt. _This Natsu… You could be like this too?!_ , she gritted her teeth in building fury.

"C'mon, I got directions to the shops on the list!" she snapped impatiently, waving the list across his face. He finally grabbed her outstretched hand and pulled himself up, leaving a Natsu-shaped hole in the snow.

After they had walked a few steps, Lucy took a deep breath to calm herself down. "According to Mira, this town produces a lot of plant-based items." she began to explain as they walked side by side.

"Hold on." Natsu unwrapped his scarf and tied it around her neck.

Lucy's eyes widened. She looked from Natsu's serious face to the scarf below her chin, feeling her anger towards him melt away like the snow beneath him. "Eh, are you sure?" she asked. He just nodded in approval.

"A-anyway, we'll only be getting a few gifts here, so we should be able to retire before dinner if we're quick." she concluded after scanning the list. She felt her cheeks heat up despite herself.

"Okay then, let's go!" he said, grinning at her.

She tugged on the edges of his scarf nervously then smiled. "Mm!"

* * *

Once they were in the heart of Garnidelia, they realised it was quite a quiet and peaceful town. While there were people walking around the streets, it was nothing compared to the hustle and bustle of the streets in Magnolia. Here, it was as if time stopped for this town alone, and Lucy felt wave of peace sweep across her heart as they wandered around looking for the first store.

"There it is!" she exclaimed, spotting their first stop. She stopped in front of it to consult the list.

* * *

_ Gardinelia _

_Meena's Nursery:_

_Droy - Beast Plant Seeds (Rare)_

_Porlyusica - Flytrap Seed Extract (Rare)_

* * *

"Droy and that old hag, huh?" Natsu murmured over her shoulder, only to receive a whack from her.

"Don't call her that!" she reprimanded him as she pushed the shop door open.

Strangely enough, she _was_ reminded of Porlyusica-san's house when she stepped into the shop. The entire shop smelled like a forest, its walls filled with every kind of plant imaginable. And some, in Natsu's case probably, unimaginable. In the middle of it all was a small, plump lady whom she deduced to be the shop's owner.

"Are you Meena?" she asked.

"Yes, I am. How may I help you?" the lady replied in a surprisingly high voice.

"I'm looking to buy these plants for my guild members." she showed Meena the list.

It was not long before they were engaged in friendly conversation. Mages didn't come around these parts very often, as Lucy found out. Since the town, in nature, was peaceful, there were hardly any problems springing up. She was, however, familiar with the guild Fairy Tail, and that was only because Mira would come by every year to buy gifts for Christmas.

"I was surprised to find out that you and that pink-haired man would be replacing Mirajane-san to buy gifts this year. After all, I wasn't expecting anyone from Fairy Tail to come here after Mirajane-san ordered some packages from me a month ago." Meena commented conversationally.

"She did?" Lucy said in surprise. "I guess those weren't Christmas gifts then."

"I guess not," Meena agreed. "But it was weird…"

"What was?"

It appeared that Meena didn't hear her question, because she handed the wrapped up packages to Lucy. "That'll be 9000 jewels." she said with a smile. After Lucy dug out the money to pay, she had already forgotten about the question and was preparing to leave when she realised she was missing something.

"Natsu, let's go!" Lucy yelled for him, and her loyal dragon slayer bounded out from behind a row of plants. Was it just her or did he look a lot more… dazed than usual?

"Did you see anything interesting?" Lucy asked him, smiling.

"Kind of. All the plants looked the same to me." He replied.

While Lucy rolled her eyes amusedly, he leaned in to take the weight of the two gifts from her, then things began to get weird. Natsu, as if in a trance, began sniffing the air around her. While she had had her fair share of weird experiences with the fire mage, this ranked pretty high. People were beginning to stare as he moved his head around her randomly while sniffing, very loudly she might add.

She clamped her hand down on his shoulder and pulled his attention back to her. "Natsu… what are you doing?" she asked.

He immediately stopped moving around to look at her, but then he did something completely unpredictable again. He inhaled deeply right in front of her face then exhaled gently with a dazed look on his face, just like the one he had when he came out of the store. Lucy just stared at him in disbelief.

"Natsu?" No response. "Natsu!" she waved her hand in front of his face. "Are you alright?"

He blinked a few times before replying. "Eh, it's nothing."

She stared at him for a few seconds before deciding to let it go. "Okay, then let's go. The next shop is a few blocks away."

* * *

Lucy couldn't believe it. The Santa Operation was a lot less stressful than she thought it would be. For one, Mira's list was god sent. It had every single detail that they needed to know on it; no wonder it was so blinking long. And two, Natsu (except for the weird sniffing fiasco) was being surprisingly well-behaved… and sweet. She felt her heart give an involuntary _thump_ when she remembered the touch of his warm fingers on her neck when he wound his precious scarf around it.

She looked to her left. Her pyromaniac friend was currently carrying all of the gifts they bought today. He wasn't destroying anything, or picking any fights, or doing anything stupid for that matter. He wasn't even shaking the gifts too much. It was… weird. She frowned. As much as she liked it, this wasn't her Natsu. She was about to ask him about it when he began talking.

"Lu-uucyy, I'm hungry!" he complained.

"Hold on, let me check the list again."

* * *

_ Gardinelia _

_Meena's Nursery:_

_Droy - Beast Plant Seeds (Rare)_

_Porlyusica - Flytrap Seed Extract (Rare)_

_The Apothecary:_

_Wakaba - A new pipe and special herbs_

(Lucy recalled that purchase with some disgust)

_Wood Works:_

_Laki - A Specialist's Guide to Wood, volume XII_

_Bickslow - 4 specially handcrafted dolls (ordered in advance)_

* * *

"Alright, we're done for the day!" she cheered.

Natsu whooped in excitement. "Time to eat!"

They walked into the next restaurant, a warm-looking place with wooden everything and hanging plants. After Natsu ordered almost everything off the menu and Lucy thanked the heavens that food expenses were also included in their spending allowance, the two began a friendly conversation.

"I still can't believe your face when you had to buy Wakaba's 'herbs'" Natsu said, bursting into uncontrollable laughter.

Well, somewhat friendly anyway.

"Stop it, Natsu! You should have helped me when that shopkeeper gave me the look." Lucy puffed her cheeks.

"Why should I? You looked like you were handling it fine." He was wiping away tears of mirth now.

Lucy groaned. "I don't know what Mira was thinking, buying _that_ for him."

"You know he receives that from at least one person every year, right?" he smirked.

"N-no! How do _you_ know?"

Natsu merely tapped his nose proudly.

"Ugh, you disgust me. And I'm never going to look at his smoking the same way ever again. Do you think he uses that for his magic?"

"Hey, Lucy, do you use perfume or something?" Natsu blurted out, completely ignoring her question.

"That's not an answer." she replied. "And what?" she asked loudly, his question finally registering in her brain.

"I mean, you smell nice, Lucy." he said. On his face was the weird smile from earlier, and Lucy felt dread stir up from the depths of her chest.

"Are you sure you're okay, Natsu?"

Just then, the food arrived and Lucy wouldn't be able to get anything except the sound of munching from him even if she tried. Sighing, she eyed her partner. Something was different about him today, not that she didn't like it, but—

"Lucy, why aren't you eating?" he mumbled, his mouth stuffed with food but his eyes locked on hers.

She would figure it out later, she thought. For now, she shrugged off these odd emotions and buried them under her food.

* * *

Natsu let out a large burp as they left the restaurant. "Man, that was a good dinner!" he exclaimed, patting his stomach. Lucy let out a yawn. "I'm just sleepy, I can't wait to get to our hotel." she said, wiping away a stray tear from her eyes. "And according to the list, it's just around the corner."

When they reached the entrance of the hotel, Lucy practically pranced straight to check in. "Two rooms for Lucy Heartfilia and Natsu Dragneel?" she asked the clerk.

After a moment's pause, the person replied. "I'm sorry, there must be a mistake. There's only one king sized room here in my register."

Why did she have a feeling that this would happen. "There must be some kind of mistake!" Lucy said, her face creasing into a frown.

Natsu, who was trailing behind jogged up to join her. "What's wrong, Lucy?" he asked, standing _way_ too close to her.

"This person says there's only one room booked for us and not two."

"Oh, is that all? That's okay, isn't it?" he smiled gently at her.

"No, it is certainly not okay." She felt herself getting more and more annoyed at this peaceful-looking version of Natsu.

"But we share a bed every night anyway, Lucy." he said with a tone of reason that Lucy felt like strangling out of him.

"No, we don't. Since when have I given you permission to sleep in my bed?" she began to raise her voice.

"But every night you always come closer to me when I—" Natsu began.

Lucy snapped. Her face turned several shades of red before she slammed enough jewels on the counter and grabbed the room key from the now terrified clerk. Grabbing Natsu by the collar, she dragged him off to the elevator.

"Not. A. Word." she muttered fiercely, a dark aura overcoming her.

* * *

The room was worse than she had expected. When they opened the door, the light setting was set to a romantic 'dim', there was jazz music playing, and there were rose petals scattered everywhere. Frickin' rose petals!

Lucy stomped angrily into the room while Natsu only looked around curiously. She had realised immediately when the clerk said those dreaded words that this was all the work of Mira the demon matchmaker. In fact, it was a possibility that this entire plan of sending them off for 5 days _alone_ was all part of her plan. She groaned and sat on the edge of the bed.

You know, it wasn't as if she detested Natsu. Sometimes, she even thought he was rather good-looking. It was just the constant match making of them together that got on her nerves. Once provoked, Mira would never stop, bringing in illogical examples and even pitting Levy ( _her best friend!_ ) against her, all so that she would admit that she liked Natsu.

Not that she did. She didn't. Or maybe she did. She didn't know. But what she did know was that if there was anything that Lucy Heartfilia hated more than anything else, was when other people tried to force her to do things against her will.

"Lucy, are you okay?" Natsu placed his arm gently over her shoulder. Speaking of Natsu, now that she knew that this was all Mirajane's fault, she had to check.

"Hey, Natsu. Did Mira, by any chance, give you something to drink this morning?"

"Hm, she made me a fire drink this morning. Why?"

"Nothing." Lucy silently cursed Mirajane.

At that last vicious thought, she stalked angrily to the toilet and slammed the door shut, leaving a confused dragon slayer sitting on the edge of the bed.

* * *

Natsu winced as the toilet door slammed, separating him and Lucy. He didn't know why Lucy was so angry. It wasn't as if they'd never slept in the same bed before. It was true that they'd been sleeping together (in the most innocent of meanings, of course) for a long time already, and he _knew_ that she liked it. She would sometimes murmur it in her sleep. Yet, she never admitted it in public, and she was so adamant about her non-existent feelings towards him too.

Not that he minded. He didn't _love_ her like Mira kept saying either. She was precious to him, but he didn't think he understood what loving her meant, even though that's what his brain had been telling him – that he loved her – for the whole day. It was weird, he felt out of his mind today. What with her scent suddenly smelling so tantalising to him, or how pretty she looked today. He also gave her his scarf, he realised, and he didn't feel the bareness around his neck at all today. Natsu clutched his head. _What was going on?_

It appeared that he could only think normally when she wasn't around. He looked around the room. Apparently all of this was supposed to be romantic, but he thought it was ridiculous. Rose petals? Jazz music? It only reminded him of Ichiya, and Gajeel's terrible singing. He shuddered. He thought the way _they_ spent time together was much more fun, but Lucy always took these things so seriously. And today he was taking it seriously too, and _that_ was ridiculous.

"Natsu" a soft voice called out to him. He looked up to see a wet-haired and calmer Lucy standing at the bathroom entrance. Her face was still flushed from anger, but her expression was sad. _Lucy…_ , he thought sadly.

"Will you dry my hair?" she asked weakly.

Wordlessly, Natsu got up from the bed and gestured for her to sit down. Upon sitting down, he began running his fingers through her hair, his body temperature immediately causing the water in her hair to evaporate. He felt Lucy begin to relax under his touch.

"I'm sorry, Natsu." Her back slumped. "I was just angry… that Mira did this."

"You think she did it?" he asked, thinking that she was talking about the room arrangements.

"Well, of course she did! Who else would—", her volume began to rise again, before she caught herself. "Sorry, sometimes she just goes too far."

"Mm" he mumbled. Her hair was soft, and her shampoo smelled so nice. He continued to run his fingers through her hair until it was completely dry.

He was about to call out to her until he realised that she had fallen asleep.

Lying her down on the bed gently, his eyes traced her gentle features. Her eyebrows had relaxed though her mouth was still firmly curved downwards in a frown. Natsu furrowed his eyebrows. He didn't like to see Lucy this way.

After covering her sleeping body, he made his way to the plush chair in the corner of the room. Only after watching her sleep for awhile did he realise she was still wearing his scarf. He smiled gently. _I love you, Lucy_ , he thought, before falling asleep.


	3. Day 2

Natsu woke up to an empty room and the first thing that came to his mind was No Lucy. The blanket that he had tucked so neatly around her sleeping figure had been pushed aside. His scarf was also missing. He got up to check the toilet. "Lucy?" he called.

His voice echoed back to him, _Lucy… Lucy… Lucy…_ as if it was taunting him, and his face took on an expression of distraught when he realised what her absence could mean.

His mind flashed through images of Lucy screaming in pain, Lucy tied up and thrown around, Lucy… his usually brave face suddenly went ghostly pale at the memory of the attack shooting past him, too fast for him to block it or fight back, one Lucy jumping in front of the other, and the soft _thud_ as her body hit the cold tiles. He felt tears prick at the back of his eyes; he would never forget what it was like to lose her for as long as he lived. _Never again_ , he felt the fury building up within him.

Natsu rushed to the hotel room door and began yanking on it; too hard, because the door knob immediately fell off with a loud _snap_. He cursed, looking down at the detached door knob in his hand; now he was trapped in here.

The dragon slayer growled menacingly. If anything were to happen to his Lucy while he was stuck in this damned room, he would never forgive himself. He took a few steps back and leaned back in preparation to attack.

"Fire dragon's roa-"

"Natsu? NATSU! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"

Lucy burst into the room. She was wearing yesterday's clothes, except her hair was tied up in two bunches and his scarf had been thrown around her neck, he noted with satisfaction. Her cheeks were flushed from running, and he knew that because he could hear her heavy panting even from across the room. Plastered on her face was a horrified expression. "Thank Mavis I got here in time." He heard her mutter under her breath.

"Lucy!" Natsu stopped his attack and bounded across the room to her side. "Where were you? I was so worried, Lucy." He whispered tenderly while pulling her into a tight embrace.

The blush on her face disappeared as soon as it appeared, and was replaced with a serious expression. "Natsu", she said sternly, pushing him an arm's length away from her. "You have to drink this. Now." She took a vial of some liquid out of her bag and pushed it to his face.

"What's thi—mmphmg!" Whatever interest Natsu may have expressed towards the bottle was instantly replaced with the urge to choke up the slimy thing Lucy had forced down this throat.

But as disgusting as it tasted, it slid down his throat easily. However, it triggered the happening of something foreign within his body. For one of the rare times in his life, Natsu Dragneel felt _cold_. Wrapping his hands around his own chest, he slid to his knees, his teeth chattering.

"Natsu? Natsu! What's wrong?" Lucy kneeled down, her expression now one of worry.

Natsu opened his mouth, but no words would form on his tongue. The only thing he could feel at the moment was the cold building in the left side of his chest, like frost was slowly coating his heart; layer upon layer, completely submerging the fire he'd usually feel burning there. Now all he could feel was ice.

All of a sudden, he felt a large _crack_ ring through his body, and his chest exploded in pain. Natsu wasn't an expert in this field, but he could have sworn his heart was splitting into two. The pain was excruciating; worse than any attack he'd ever receive from an enemy, worse than all the times Erza had beat him combined. This attack came from the inside, and for the first time in his life, he didn't have any battle plan. A few tears escaped from the corners of his eyes.

"Luc—" he weakly muttered before his world collapsed into blackness.

* * *

When he finally came to, Natsu found himself tucked in bed with a towel over his forehead. The first thought that came to his mind was how hot it was. He sat up, pushed off the layers of comforters heaped upon his chest, then proceeded to peel off the now steaming hot towel that had begun sizzling against his forehead. After he got out of bed, he could feel how numb his body had become when he stretched left and right. But other than that, he couldn't think of any reason why he would even be in bed like a sick person in the first place.

Just as he was about to call out her name, Lucy came out from the toilet. Her eyes widened and her lips curled into a grin. "Natsu!" she ran towards him in a hug. "Thank Mavis, I thought you were a goner!"

Natsu laughed. "Duh, I'm totally stronger than that." He flexed his muscles playfully, then he let his hands fall to his sides. "But y'know, Lucy, I don't remember anything."

The smile left Lucy's face. "Well, I remember coming here with you and doing that Santa thing, but everything else is just blurry." He said, scratching his head.

"You… don't remember anything?" The question slipped out quietly from her lips. "I guess that's what she meant by after-effects, but I didn't think—", she mumbled softly.

"Lucy," Natsu looked down at her worriedly. "What happened? Tell me." He said, staring into her eyes.

"Uh, well, where do I begin…" Lucy rubbed her forehead and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Let's see. Yesterday, Mira drugged you with some kind of love potion and—"

"MIRA DID WHAT?!" Natsu roared with anger.

"Like I said," Lucy sighed, and began explaining again. "Mira must have slipped some kind of love potion into your drink yesterday and I just gave you the antidote this morning, but then you passed out for a couple of hours and now we're behind schedule, though I guess that doesn't matter that much anymore since the whole operation must have been some elaborate scheme to get us together—"

"YEARGH! I'm going to go beat up Mira up right now!" Natsu yelled, interrupting her mid-rant. He was about to break into a run when Lucy yanked him back with his scarf.

"What are you doing, Lucy?" he wailed. "I wanna get back at Mira!"

"Did you forget? We're in Garnidelia now. How are you going to get back to Magnolia?" Lucy stared at him, unamused as he continued to try and run away, but only succeeding in stumbling and falling.

"I'll… I'll walk!" he said proudly, as if he had instead stumbled upon the secret of life.

"We just went through this yesterday, Natsu." Lucy rolled her eyes. "And as much as I want to give Mira a piece of my mind, we still have gifts to buy for at least 3 quarters of the guild."

Natsu pouted. Somehow, he had the memory of Lucy being a lot nicer yesterday. "I don't want to." He crossed his arms and turned his head away from her.

"You _do_ remember that this thing was your choice, right?" Lucy pointed out, exasperated.

"Yeah, so what?" He puffed his cheeks stubbornly.

"So," Lucy balled her hand into a fist. "We're going to have to finish what _you_ decided to begin." she said louder, whacking him on the head.

"Weren't you the one that said it didn't matter anymore?" Natsu muttered sourly, rubbing the forming bruise on his head.

"It doesn't!" she admitted, "But we can't just leave everyone without presents." She tried reasoning with him. "I mean, it's _Christmas_."

There was a short silence as Natsu continued to sulk. Suddenly, he felt a light touch on his shoulder. "Listen, Natsu, I want to go home too. But we promised to be Santas, or whatever it is, and we should at least finish what we set out to do before we head back to Magnolia." Lucy said resignedly. "We can think about revenge against Mira later." She added on.

The last comment caused Natsu to whip his head around. "Really?" he asked. He looked like Christmas came early.

"Really." Lucy smiled a little at this familiar sight.

"Alright! Let's go then, what are you waiting for?!" he yelled excitedly, grabbing his things and rushing out of the door, leaving Lucy in the literal dust. After awhile, he turned back around and popped his head back into the doorway. "So, uh, we're walking, right?"

Needless to say, he left the hotel with a giant bruise on top of his other bruise, and they most definitely took the train.

* * *

"Ground!" Natsu tumbled out of the train spiritedly. "Sweet, solid ground!" he jumped up and down, attracting more than a few weird stares from the people around them.

Lucy sighed. Why did she feel such a strong sense of dejavu? "C'mon Natsu, we should hurry if we want to finish shopping by dinner," she said.

Natsu's ears immediately perked up at the sound of food, and he began walking away… in the wrong direction. Lucy rolled her eyes and reached out to grab his scarf, yanking him backwards. She vaguely recalled that this was the second time this had happened today.

"What are you—ngak!" he choked.

"This way." She pointed in the right direction.

"Oh right, I knew that." Natsu fake laughed and scratched his head, quickly joining her as she began heading in that direction.

After a few minutes' walk, the pair reached the heart of the town of Magna and all they could do was gawk. If you compared this town to Garnidelia or Magnolia, it would be like comparing Asuka and Wendy with Laxus. From where they stood, the town spread out in all directions for as far as they could see. But that was not all that was impressive about it. As Lucy read out from The List cum tour guide, "Magna is the largest town in the whole of Fiore, taking up 15% of the country's total land – whereas most other towns take up 2% - 8% at most – and is well-known as a shopping hub for mages, even from other countries!"

Next to her, something had caught Natsu's attention. "Lucy! Do you smell that?" he breathed in deeply. "Fried squid, baked fish, chocolate cake, and…" he furrowed his eye brows and sniffed. "…fire food!" he exclaimed in delight.

He whipped his head around to look at Lucy. "When's dinner again?" he asked, drool already dripping down the side of his mouth.

"After we shop, remember?" Lucy answered absent-mindedly, her full attention directed to the words _shopping_ and _hub_. "Natsu, let's go!" she suddenly exclaimed excitedly, grabbing his hand and running towards a nearby store.

Lucy's eyes shone as she stood in front of the shop display. In the Christmas spirit, it was lit up with fairy lights, its borders decorated with tinsel and holly to frame the mannequin that stood in its centre. Fitted on it, was the most beautiful red dress she had ever seen. While it was a simple design – off-shouldered and ending just above the knees, with no other patterns or frills – the silk fabric fell gently onto the mannequin, accentuating its curves but not being _too_ figure hugging. And despite its lack of sequins or other add-ons, the material shimmered gently under the faint light. She could just imagine all eyes on her and that gorgeous, glimmering dress as she walked down the streets.

"Lucy, you're drooling." Natsu pointed out, snickering.

She turned to glare at the dragon slayer, one hand lifting to wipe the side of her mouth. "What do you want, Natsu?" she said crossly.

The dragon slayer just continued to laugh at her, and she puffed her cheeks indignantly. "Well, wait until you see it on me, then _you'll_ be the one drooling." She stated haughtily, letting her narcissistic side slip out. Lucy turned back to the shop's entrance, about to go in and request for the dress to try it on, until something in the corner of her eye caused her to halt in her steps.

Right in the corner of the display, in an unfairly small font, was the price of the dress: 70,000 jewels. Her face began to pale. _70,000 jewels?! I don't have that kind of money!_

Meanwhile, Natsu had gotten tired of waiting for Lucy, who had begun staring slack-jawed at the glass window in complete shock. "Luu-uucyyy" he shook her back and forth. "Earth to Lucy! C'mon, Lucy, we have to do the shopping thing so we can eat! I wanna eaaaat!" he began shouting into her ear.

At that, Lucy snapped out of it and immediately winced at the increasingly loud wails directed to her ears. Before he could react, she furiously Lucy Kick-ed him for almost bursting her ear drums, causing Natsu to fly over the roof tops of the nearest buildings easily and out of sight. Watching his receding figure in satisfaction, Lucy patted down her crinkled clothes and mussed-up hair; after-effects from Natsu's excessive shaking. Then she touched the glass display gently, bidding a last goodbye to _her_ red dress, and then glumly pulled out Mira's list to check for her first stop.

* * *

According to the list, the nearest shop to her was _Massimo's Magic Emporium_. After walking around for awhile, she finally spotted a run-down looking cottage that, ironically, stood out among the other shiny new stores. It didn't seem to fit its grand name, but sure enough, _Massimo's Magic Emporium_ was printed in faded, old letters on the front gate.

Hesitantly, Lucy took a step inside the compound. Wherever she looked, there were weeds sticking out in the snow, cigarette butts, and _urgh_ , was that an animal carcass?! Lucy gulped nervously. She couldn't help but feel that she was making a mistake by coming here. But Mira's list hadn't been wrong yet. (Well, except for the fact that the list _was_ a huge elaborate plan to get her and Natsu together that _did_ involve drugs, but Lucy managed to push that fact aside).

And so, she pushed the store's entrance open slowly, one hand defensively clutching her keys, only to be completely and utterly surprised. Despite its (at best) modest entrance, the inside of the store was as big as a warehouse, not to mention spick and span, and completely dust-free to boot. It seemed like two completely different places.

With her jaw still wide open, Lucy managed to walk into someone with such force that the next place she found herself was on the floor. Tilting her head up, she was even more shocked to see a tall and rather handsome-looking man offering his hand to her.

Lucy vaguely registered being pulled to her feet, but at the moment, she was more interested in how good-looking the man was. Dressed in a navy blue pin-stripe suit, he had chocolate brown skin and hair as white as snow; cropped short at the sides in the style of a Mohawk, but his fringe fell over his forehead in a series of waves. His eyes crinkled when he smiled down at her, and she noticed that they were the strangest shade of turquoise.

"Are you alright, miss?" he asked. His voice was deep and smooth.

"Yea—I mean, I'm goo— great, I mean. Yeah, great." Lucy tucked a strand of her blonde locks behind her ear shyly.

"That's good to hear." He heaved a sigh of relief. "I apologise about the entrance, it's kind of a tradition. It only works on first-timers so you won't have to see that sight again, rest assured." His concerned expression was then replaced with a welcoming smile. "Anyway, I'm Magnus Massimo, and you are?"He put his hand out between them.

"Lucy Heartfilia." She took his hand and shook it, the other fiddling with her hem of her skirt nervously. "You own this place?" She said, trying to make conversation.

"It's a family business." He shrugged. "What about you? It's not often I get people like you in my store?"

"You mean, mages?"

"Well, that's not quite what I meant." He winked, causing Lucy to blush deeply.

"Uh, well, actually—"Lucy searched her purse for that dratted list, wondering what the universe had against her that couldn't allow her act cool around this one good-looking man-god specimen.

After much rummaging and internal cussing, Lucy finally dragged the list out of her purse and passed it to Magnus. "Ah, Mira-san sent you, I see? I should have known." A knowing smile came over the man's face, but before Lucy could think about it any further, he continued talking. "If you may, Lucy-san", he gestured for her to follow him. "I've got all your gifts prepared here."

Magnus led her to a counter where a few bags of gifts were arranged neatly. While Lucy inspected the packages (and snuck a few looks at the man), Magnus went to his spot behind the counter. "The total is 125,000 jewels." He informed her.

After Lucy handed over the money, she began to reach for the bags when his hand grazed hers lightly. "Here, let me help you." He said.

She blushed again. "You sure it won't be too much trouble?"

"Not at all. Which hotel are you staying at?"

"But what about the store?" she asked concernedly.

"The store will be fine. Plus, I'd rather help you, I think." He said, shooting her a look. Lucy felt as if her heart would burst out of her chest.

"Uh, okay then." She smiled shyly.

However, it seemed that Lucy must have done something to really piss the universe off because just as they were about to leave, there was an explosion at the other end of the store. The two jumped at the loud sound, looked at each other then at the direction from which the sound came from.

"Lucy?" A voice could be distinguishable from the sound of debris falling.

_Oh shit._

When she looked to her right, Magnus' eyes were widened and he looked in the direction of the loud _bang_ in panic. "Lucy-san, I think you'd better stay here." He said, putting down her bags. "I'll go check out what caused the explosion."

Before he could leave, Lucy placed one hand on this shoulder. "Magnus, er, -san?" she said awkwardly, addressing him directly for the first time. "I'm so sorry, but I think _I'd_ better go. I think I know what caused the explosion." She bit her lip apologetically, but her other hand was clenched into a tight fist to suppress her growing anger.

Magnus eyed her for awhile before placing his hand on top of hers. "Okay, I'll wait here." As she began to walk away, he called after her: "Be careful!"

She wished someone would have said that to her _before_ she met Natsu Dragneel.

* * *

He didn't mean to. Or at least, that's what he tried to tell her. He had found himself on the other side of town after her Lucy Kick, and he was just trying to find her again.

It wasn't his fault that he was hungry and the first fire he saw was the one someone was using to cook, nor was it his fault that that stupid fruit cart was in the middle of the street when he was trying to run away from the cook (which again, he didn't deserve), and it was most _definitely_ not his fault that while running away from the two angry people, he was chased into a group of thugs who just _happened_ to be crossing the street. And since they were the ones whom had wanted to fight, who was he to deny them that right, right?

It made perfect sense to him, so he didn't understand why Lucy had hit him so hard and said it _was_ his fault. Then she had forced him to apologise to that weird guy she kept batting her eyelids at, and _then_ she made him carry allthe gifts _all_ the way back to the hotel. And now she wasn't speaking to him. They didn't even go for dinner.

Natsu's stomach growled in protest, but every time he even moved, Lucy would turn around and give him a glare that would put Erza to shame.

With his back facing her, he crossed his arms and pouted. "I don't understand why you're so angry, Lucy. It was just a wall." He mumbled.

Lucy whipped her head around, he could feel the glare prickling his back. "What do you mean _just a wall_?!"

"I mean, I didn't break any of his other gizmo thingies so it was just a wall." He said, now returning her gaze, but frowning in confusion.

Lucy face palmed. "Sometimes, I don't know why I even associate myself with you."

"Asho-she-ate? Is that something you can eat?" Natsu cocked his head to the side.

Lucy gritted her teeth. "No, Natsu! It is not something you can eat, and I'm tired of you and your incompetence!" she yelled.

Natsu just continued to stare blankly at her.

"You wanna know why I'm so angry, Natsu?" she threatened.

"Actually, no. I'm just hungry." He frowned. His stomach growled loudly again to emphasise his point.

Lucy clenched her fists and released a long string of swear words until she was out of breath, and then slumped tiredly onto the bed. She pointed one finger towards the door. "Just go." She said dully.

Taken aback by her sudden outburst, Natsu simply obeyed her orders. Before he closed the door behind him, he swore that he could smell the scent of salt and tears in the air, then he heard Lucy mumble: "I liked you better yesterday." Something suddenly struck him, and that feeling was guilt. With his eyes downcast, he closed the hotel room door and headed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lmao, I should mention that Massimo is the brand of bread I used to eat at the time I was writing this.


	4. Day 3

Lucy winced as the harsh morning sunlight pierced through her closed eye lids. _Is it morning already?_ She groaned and turned onto her back. Rubbing her sore eyes, she groggily sat up in bed. For a second, she almost forgot where she was, and then all at once, everything came back to her.

Her eyes scanned the room for any sign of her friend, but not only was he not there, his belongings were gone too. _And after what I did, who wouldn't leave?_ She winced, thinking back to the night before. She tightened her hold on her blanket as her chest constricted in guilt.

After a moment of silence, Lucy reluctantly climbed out of bed and got dressed. She put on a pair of tights and a sweater, not bothering to put any effort into her outfit today. While she was tying her hair up in her usual twin tails, she caught sight of her own reflection in the bathroom mirror. Her eyes were puffy from crying last night, but that wasn't what had shocked her. What was shocking was the complete dullness in her eyes. She couldn't see any hint of life in her face at all. Even her hair seemed limp and her body, slumped. She stroked the end of one twin tail sadly.

 _Natsu…_ The image of his smiling face floated to the forefront of her mind, but it immediately dissolved into the memory of his silent back slowly disappearing from her sight as he walked out the door. She reached out her hand, but it only met her reflection. _Why did I have to go and do that?_ She thought sadly. _What made this time so different from the rest?_ Her hands dropped to her sides as she turned away from the mirror. _Was it because he destroyed my time with Magnus?_ She shook her head. _No, because he was being whiny about shopping?_ She shook her head again. That wasn't it. A small voice nudged at her from the back of her mind. _Isn't it because you love him?_

Lucy's heart thumped. Usually, her mind would automatically shut this part of her up, but with her defences on a low, the voice continued speaking. _You're just disappointed in Natsu because of what he was like in Garnidelia. Admit it, you actually liked that sweet and caring Natsu, didn't you? That's why you blew up on him. Not because he destroyed something again, but because he was so different from the Natsu you loved._

Lucy, who had been subconsciously agreeing with this inner voice suddenly stopped and shook her head. _No._

_What do you mean, no? You obviously love him. Look how sad you are now that he's gone._

_I_ _am_ _sad, but you're wrong; I don't like him when he's like that._ She frowned, causing the shoujo manga version of Natsu to blink out of her mind. _I like him just the way he is; rambunctious and hyper, not subdued and thoughtful, courageous and protective, not shy and wordy._ Lucy froze. _And I blew up on him for something so miniscule, and now, he's gone_ , she thought quietly.

She leaned down to grab her luggage in one hand, and the gifts in the other. She needed to find him. He needed to know that she was sorry, and that she wanted to make it up to him. She needed her partner back.

* * *

Lucy ran out of the hotel into a huge crowd of people. Tiptoeing as high as she could, she tried to peer over the sea of people in hopes of spotting a familiar pink head. But luck wasn't on Lucy's side. As she waded deeper into the crowd, she suddenly tripped over. While she managed to hold tight onto her luggage, the bag containing the gifts flew out in front of her and burst open, spewing its contents all over the streets.

Lucy quickly pushed herself off the ground to gather the gifts before they were stepped on. However, before she could even pick up the nearest one, a pair of hands were already handing her the bag refilled with all the gifts.

When she looked up, her eyes met the strangest shade of turquoise and her eyes widened in recognition.

"Magnus!" she exclaimed, surprised. Unlike yesterday, he was dressed casually in a t-shirt, slacks and a warm jacket. But still, he looked as good as he did the day before; she was attracting more than a few envious looks just by standing next to him.

"Hello, Lucy-san." He flashed his crinkly smile at her as she gratefully took the bag from him.

"What are you doing here?" She asked. "I mean, not that I don't appreciate your help. I do." she added on hurriedly.

'Well, after yesterdays, er, incident, the store is closed for repairs now." He scratched his head awkwardly.

"Oh… I'm so sorry for that." She apologised again, bowing her head. "Was my payment yesterday really enough to cover the damages?" she asked concernedly.

"It's fine, Lucy-san, honestly." He reassured her. "The damage wasn't too great, so I should be able to reopen again tomorrow."

"Phew, that's good news." she sighed in relief.

"More importantly, are you okay?"

"Wha—oh, you mean the fall? I've suffered worse than this, no worri—"

"No, no." he interrupted her. "I mean, you don't look so well. Are you okay?" his brows creased into a frown.

Lucy touched her face self-consciously. "Oh, I'm fine." She said in a low voice.

"Okayy," Magnus looked unconvinced. "And what about your friend?"

"Who?"

"The one with the pink hair?" He made gestures at his own hair.

"…Oh." She attempted a smile. "Actually, I'm looking for him right now."

"You are? Then I shouldn't bother you." He said, excusing himself.

"But—"

"You should go look for him, Lucy-san." Magnus interrupted her. "He seems like a very important person to you." He said seriously, though he smiled gently.

Lucy stared at him blankly before a small smile appeared on her own face. "Mm." she nodded.

"Good luck!" Magnus said loudly as he walked away. He raised his hand in a wave which Lucy returned, before breaking into a run in the other direction with her two bags in tow.

* * *

Unsurprisingly, looking for one person – even if he had pink hair and tended to stand out wherever he went – was tough in such a big town. Lucy had searched for one hour straight before she collapsed on a nearby bench in exhaustion. _What was I thinking?_ She panted, her breath visible in the cold air. _I should just finish the shopping without him. I don't even know if he's still in town_ , she realised.

Her heart dropped. Somehow, she found herself looking forward to this big reunion. Them spotting each other from a distance, dropping their bags and running towards each other with open arms, embracing each other while tears of joy were shed and apologies made… Okay, so she got that out of a book, but a girl could dream, right?

Lucy sighed as she leaned back on the bench, tilting her head up towards the sky. _Ah, it's snowing,_ she realised. Aside for the snow storm back in Magnolia, it hadn't snowed at all in any of the places they had travelled to. A small snowflake landed on her nose, causing her to shiver. A few more landed on her arms, legs, and head, the small snowflakes creating little dots in her clothing. _I guess I should finish the shopping here and head to the next town before sundown_ , she thought lazily.

She stuck her hand into her purse waiting for her skin to make contact with paper, but there was nothing. She sat up in panic, and immediately began pulling things out of her purse in search for that one scroll of paper. Her wallet, some receipts, a notebook, a few pens, a spare pair of earrings… it all came tumbling out onto the bench, but still, no list. Lucy's facial expression grew more and more distressed.

 _Could I have left it in Magnus' store yesterday?_ , her mind was reeling with worries. _No, it can't be. I remember putting it back into my purse. I was reading it last night! Could it be…_ Her hand slowed in realisation. _Did I drop it this morning when I fell?_

Lucy stood up from the bench and quickly gathered her things. _Maybe it's still there!_ , she thought, preparing to run off again, when suddenly—

"Lucy!"

Her head whipped around at the familiar voice. Lucy felt her heart soar even before her eyes met his atrociously pink locks. "Natsu", she whispered, her eyes widening.

"I'm so sorry, Lucy." The usually cheerful fire mage had a solemn look on his face as he held a present box out to her, complete with a huge ribbon she knew couldn't be his handiwork. She noticed a familiar sheet of paper sticking out of his pocket, and the bags of gifts that pooled at the bottom of his feet.

"Natsu…" she repeated dazedly, taking the package from him. "What is thi—"

"I'm sorry," he interrupted. "I just don't understand why you're angry with me, Lucy." He scratched his head. "But I don't like it when we fight. We're supposed to be best partners. So, please, stop being angry with me." He wore an expression of concern.

Lucy looked at him, then at the gift in her hands. She pulled the end of the ribbon and watched it unravel. Slowly, she lifted the cover of the box. Her eyes immediately widened and she looked up to stare at her teammate. "But Natsu—"

"Do you like it?" A grin was beginning to form on his face, which made Lucy want to smile too, but she shook her head and pushed the gift back to him.

"I forgive you, I really do. And I'm so, so sorry for what I said last night. I shouldn't have said any of it. I know it hurt you, and I wish I could take it back, Natsu. Really." She said, looking at him apologetically. "But this," she gestured at the gift. "I can't accept this."

Natsu's face, which was about to break into the biggest smile, displayed a frown. "Why? Don't you like it?"

"No, it's not that. I love it, I just—it's too expensive. I can't take it." She pushed it towards him and turned her head away, because inside of that box, nestled in soft tissue, was a square of sparkly red fabric that made her heart skip a beat. Lucy gulped.

"Uh, yes you can." Natsu rolled his eyes. "See? You're already holding it."

"No, no. _You_ hold it!" She pushed it back to him.

"No."

"Natsu, please take it", her voice in-between despair and hope.

"Nuh uh. It's for you, Lucy." He put his hands behind his back, then stuck his tongue out at her cheekily. "I want to see you wear it." He added.

Lucy blushed lightly. "I— Natsu… Thank you." Her voice wavered a little and a tear rolled down her cheek. "I don't know what I'd do without you." She whispered.

"Lucy! Why are you crying?" Natsu panicked. "Did I do something again? Tell me!"

Lucy bonked her friend on the head lightly. "They're tears of happiness, you idiot." She giggled, wiping away her tears. She picked up half of the gift bags and hooked her arm around his. "Come on, Natsu. Next stop, and we can walk if you like." She said generously.

"Really?" He exclaimed excitedly.

Lucy nodded.

"Awesome!" Natsu pumped his fist into the air. "Let's go, let's go!" he chanted happily. Lucy just smiled. She wouldn't have it any other way.

* * *

Okay, maybe she _would_ have had it another way; preferably a way that involved transportation. It occurred to her that it was probably not her best decision to agree to walk _in the snow_ to a town that would take 2 hours _by train_. But by the time she began to regret it, they were already far from any sign of life; or more importantly, transportation.

 _At least Natsu is happy_ , she thought. In fact, he was so happy about the lack of ground motion that he still had the energy to march on even though she had slowed down to a crawl a long time ago. But despite the fact that her legs were slowly giving out on her, she couldn't be glum about it. Natsu's good mood was infectious, and she found that she could ignore the aching pain in her heels as long as they carried on their cheerful banter.

But it was kind of weird. They had been walking for at least 3 hours but the landscape around them still looked as abandoned as it had been an hour ago. Even weirder still, this town they were supposed to be at, Gimmlestone or something, wasn't on any of the official maps Lucy had brought along. So really, they were relying on Natsu's sense of smell to get there.

 _Wait, shouldn't The List have directions or something?,_ she suddenly realised. Lucy stopped walking to take out the list. It was slightly crumpled with a few food stains on it, thanks to the short period of time it spent in Natsu's pocket. She rolled it open until the part where the gifts in Magna were stated.

* * *

_ Magna _

_Massimo's Magic Emporium_

_Asuka - Plush pony (live edition)_

_Evergreen - Enchanted fairy wings_

_Gildarts - Magic-suppressing rings_

_Jet - Friction-resistant boots_

_Rarity:_

_Erza - Peeping mirror_

' _Mystogun' - Peeping mirror_

_Fiore Outfitters:_

_Wendy - Dress #09182 (pre-booked)_

_Bisca - Dress #07182 (pre-booked)_

_Levy - Dress #10293 (pre-booked)_

(Lucy was bewildered at this item, but was immediately convinced upon seeing the dress. Even if Mira was a demon and schemer, there was no denying her good taste.)

_Prints & Posters:_

_Freed - Posters of Laxus (pre-ordered)_

_Warren - Posters of Wendy and Cheria from the Grand Magic Games (pre-ordered)_

(Lucy didn't even want to _see_ any of those gifts.)

_Train Station:_

_Kinana - An all-expense paid trip to visit Cobra_

* * *

Lucy looked up at Natsu and the multitude of gift bags that he was carrying. Thanks to him, they managed to buy everything from Magna with time to spare, but that wasn't what she was looking for. Lucy rolled open the scroll to the next portion. There it was: Gimmelshtump. _Exit from the south of Magna and continue straight on until Gimmelshtump_ , she read. _What kind of directions were those?!_

"Lucy! Lucy!" Natsu called her from ahead. "I just smelled something incredible, let's go!"

Lucy quickly rolled up the list and tucked it in her purse. "Wait for me, Natsu!" she said, running to catch up with him. She huffed and puffed as she followed his running figure up a steep hill. When she finally caught up to him, she placed a hand on his shoulder to support herself. "Natsu," Lucy wheezed, "Why'd you suddenly start running?" She panted heavily.

Natsu didn't pay heed to her question. Instead he began pointing at something excitedly. "Lucy, look, look!"

Below the hill, shrouded in mist, Lucy could make out a small town; even smaller than Garnidelia, though it surely seemed much noisier. The sound of cheering and Christmas carols wafted up to where they stood, and Lucy and Natsu looked at each other grinning.

"We're finally here!" Lucy whooped.

"Food!" Natsu yelled happily at the same time.

Suddenly feeling revitalised, Lucy sped down the hill alongside Natsu into the nearest place that offered food and warmth. Having worked up the appetite walking all the way there, it didn't take long for the two to devour their dinner and return back to the streets of Gimmelshtump, ready to get back to Christmas shopping again.

By then, night had fallen and the streets were dim, with only the warm glow from street lamps to guide their way. Despite that, the streets were still teeming with people, and plenty of stores remained open.

"Natsu, we should get some shopping done tonight before we sleep!" Lucy shouted over the noise of the crowd.

"But I'm tired, Lucy." He whined, dragging his feet.

"Come on, Natsu. What happened to all that energy you had when we were walking here?"

"But now my stomach is all warm and fuzzy, it's making me want to sleeeeep." He tried to reason, rubbing his stomach.

"Don't be a wimp, Natsu." Lucy retorted before she stopped to ask for directions. "Excuse me, would you happen to know where _this_ shop is?" She pointed at the shop's name on Mira's list.

"Oh honey, that's in the town over yonder." The motherly-looking woman pointed north.

"Okay, thanks." Lucy replied, before the sentence truly hit her. "Wait, town? You mean, it's not in this town?!"

"That's what I said, dear." The woman was now looking at her peculiarly.

"B-but isn't this Gimmelshtump?"

"Oh no, dearie. This is Gimmestump. Don't worry, it's a common mistake. Honestly, I don't know what our mayor was thinking, naming our town just like that other one."

The woman rolled her eyes, but Lucy was too shocked to even hear her side commentary. _Wrong… Town…?! EHHH?!_

Suddenly she felt the air beside her head grow very warm. "Lucy?" Natsu popped his head out beside hers. "What's wrong?"

"Natsuuu" she wailed, turning to look at him. "We got the wrong town!"

"You mean this isn't Gimmestump?"

"It's not—Wait, did you say Gimmestump?"Lucy stopped her rant to stare at him blankly.

"Yeah, Gimmestump. That was our next stop, right?"

Lucy pulled the list out of her purse and quickly rolled it open.

* * *

_ Gimmelshtump _

_Directions: Exit from the south of Magna and continue straight on until Gimmelshtump_

_Potions & Other Remedies:_

_Juvia - Love Potion_

_Macao - Youth Potion_

* * *

_Those are terrible gift ideas!_ Lucy thought. _Wait, I'm going off topic here._ She put the list directly in front of Natsu's face and said loudly. "See, see! It's Gimmelshtump, not Gimmestump."

Natsu just stared at the list blankly before laughing nervously. "Did I mention that I'm not a good reader?"He said, backing away.

" _Natsu_." Lucy's voice took on a menacing tone as she shoved the list back into her purse and began advancing upon the now pale-faced dragon slayer.

"Eeek!" Natsu yelped and began running away. "What happened to no more fighting, Lucy?! We're best partners, aren't we?!" He wailed as he ran. The crowd parted to allow the two to run by; one screaming pink-haired boy being chased by a busty blonde chick… and were those demon horns on her head?

"NATSUUUU. YOU'RE _SO_ DEAD WHEN I FINALLY CATCH YOU!" she yelled.

* * *

After a lot of running and yelling, Lucy finally ran out of stamina and Natsu decided it was safe to approach her… within a 5 feet radius, of course.

"Lucy…" He called her tentatively.

"Argh, Natsu, _now_ what do we do?"She complained. "It's too far to travel tonight. Should we travel tomorrow? But then, we'll be behind schedule. Well, it's not like we're not already behind schedule. Ugh, not to mention we walked all the way here for more than 3 hours for _nothing_!" Lucy had begun talking to herself.

"Lucy, I don't understand. Why don't we just shop here?" Natsu interjected her monologue.

"What are you talking abo— Hey, that could work!" Lucy's face turned from annoyed to excited and Natsu, a little more smug. "But that would mean needing to actually _choose_ gifts." She took out the list and read through the part that was meant for Gimmelshtump.

* * *

_ Gimmelshtump _

_Directions: Exit from the south of Magna and continue straight on until Gimmelshtump_

_Potions & Other Remedies:_

_Juvia - Love Potion_

_Macao - Youth Potion_

_Pablo's Portraits:_

_Reedus - A new set of paint brushes_

_Nab - A replica of the request board (pre-ordered)_

_Makarov - Portrait of Lucy (pre-ordered)_

_Mages' Must-Haves:_

_Vijeeter - Enchanted socks_

_Elfman - Self-assurance manual_

_Cana - Self-refilling bottle_

_Sewn 4 U:_

_Gray - Invisible clothes (pre-ordered)_

_Grocer's:_

_Max - Broom bristle cleaner_

* * *

_Oh god, these are terrible gifts_. She looked up at Natsu in horror. _Except maybe for Reedus' and… who was Vijeeter again?_ She frowned.

Meanwhile, Natsu was peering over her shoulder, now figuring her wrath had already worn off. "Pfft, invisible clothes? For that stripper Gray?" He burst into laughter.

"I know, terrible, right?" Lucy nodded her head sagely. "We should totally get all these people different gifts."

"No no, let's get the stripper, pfft, invisible clothes!" Natsu burst into laughter again.

Lucy bit back her own laughter. "We shouldn't, it's not the right thing to do." She said, though a smile was beginning to play on her lips.

"Aww, Lucy. You're no fun." He pouted.

Lucy put her hand across her mouth and coughed to hide her own amusement. "Well, firstly, we should get to a hotel first. I think we can start tomorrow." She said, changing the topic.

"Okay!" Natsu agreed happily, his sad emotions tied up and thrown into the gutter. "I get to sleep with you tonight, right?"

"I didn't agree to that, Natsu." She said, beginning to walk around looking for a place to stay.

"But Luu-uucy, I haven't slept with you for two days."He whined, causing a few people to look suspiciously in their direction. Lucy noticed this and began walking faster; Natsu had to jog to catch up with her.

"So?" She said in an unamused tone.

"The bed is always more comfy when you're in it too." He said in a childish voice.

Lucy looked to her right. He was giving her the puppy dog eyes again. She looked away and groaned. "Fine, but you're doing _all_ the gift-carrying tomorrow." She stated her condition.

"Okay!"

" _And_ we're taking the train to the next town." She added on.

"Eh?! But—" He protested.

"No buts, Natsu."

The dragon slayer slumped, his face already turning green at the thought of it. Lucy looked at the sight before her and grinned widely. Well, at least things were back to normal now.


	5. Day 4

Lucy woke up feeling rather warm. Her brows creased into a frown as she shimmied around under the covers, trying to find a better position to fall back to sleep in. In her half-asleep state, her elbow suddenly bumped into something hard and her eyes jolted open. Turning her head slowly, she only came face-to-face with her sleeping (and loudly snoring) team mate.

She let out a strangled yelp, and began to push herself back into her comfort zone, but it only caused Natsu to reach out his arms and pull her in tightly.

"Lucy…" he mumbled in his sleep. His head nuzzled lightly against her blonde locks causing her to blush.

"N-natsu" she protested, trying to pry herself out of his tight embrace but it only caused him to snuggle against her again.

Despite what everyone else presumed later, she _did_ try to get out of it. She pinched his arms, kicked his legs, even used her head to hit his (it appeared that only she would suffer from that one) and she was going to begin contemplating biting his arm when he suddenly shifted gently in his sleep.

"Luu-uucy," he mumbled for the second time. _Does he dream about me or something?_ She wondered, blood rushing to her cheeks.

In front of her, Natsu groaned and shifted again until their faces were directly aligned, the tip of her nose gently making contact with his. Her heartbeat quickened. Even though they'd been put into almost every other kind of situation before (yes, even locked into the guild's broom closet during another one of Fairy Tail's infamous parties), she'd never been this close to Natsu's face before. In fact, in this position, they could almost ki—

Lucy's blush deepened. What was she thinking? With Natsu? Was he even interested in those things? Did he even _know_ anything about it?

While her mind went round and round in panic, her eyes remained glued on Natsu's shut eyelids; which is probably why she almost had a heart attack when his eyes suddenly flew open. "Lucy, your heart is beating so loudly I can't sleep." He complained drowsily.

Lucy screamed and pushed him away. This time, successfully rolling him off the edge of the bed where he landed with a loud _thump_.

He sat up, the top half of his body peeping over the bed's horizon, and rubbed his neck sleepily. "What was that for, Lucy?" He winced when the sun's rays hit his eyes.

Lucy breathed heavily. _I wasn't just think about—_ The fantasy image of Natsu holding her in tight embrace then leaning in for a romantic kiss flashed through her mind while Mira's voice echoed endlessly. "You and Natsu would make such a great couple, couple, couple…" She clutched head tightly and screamed silently. _Get a grip of yourself, Lucy Heartfilia!_

Natsu, whom had gotten no response from the blonde mage, stood up and headed to the bathroom. "You're so weird." He noted in a sage voice, before shutting the door behind him, leaving Lucy to wonder what was wrong with her this morning.

* * *

After Lucy's minor breakdown (and breakfast. Like Natsu would ever let her forget _that_ ), the two left the hotel to get a head start at Christmas shopping, just as they had planned last night; though anyone who was watching them would have noted that it was mostly Lucy who was doing the shopping while Natsu more or less resembled a mule.

The dragon slayer was currently buried under a pile of gifts that he was struggling to balance. It wasn't so much a matter of care as it was fear. _Lucy would kill me if I dropped one_ , he paled, remembering that Lucy's fearsomeness could easily rival Erza's any day.

He eyed his partner cautiously for any sign of attack, but he only saw the blonde shoot him a look of her own before turning her head away the instant their eyes made contact. Natsu noticed that her cheeks were pink. _Did she put on make-up again?_ He scrunched his face. He didn't understand why she did that. He liked her face better without make-up.

While Natsu absentmindedly contemplated the cooler face painting potential of make-up, he stumbled on a small ridge in the sidewalk. Though not enough to make him fall, it was enough to tip the precariously balanced pile of gifts he was carrying. Before he could react, the pile of presents came tumbling down onto the ground before him.

At the same time, a dark aura enveloped Lucy, whom had turned around at the sound of the large crash. "Natsu, what did I say about taking care of the presents?" She said menacingly.

"I'm sorry, Lucy!" he yelped, before scrambling on his knees to collect the gifts.

He heard her sigh loudly, before kneeling down to help him out. "What will I do with you, Natsu?" she said.

"What do you mean? You don't have to do anything with me!" He replied. "Sometimes you say weird things, Lucy." He snickered.

"Weird, huh?" she mused, reaching for another snow-covered gift. "You say that a lot."

"It means 'not normal', right?" Erza had taught him that, he remembered proudly, even though the memory in itself was not a very proud one; nor, actually, a painless one.

"Right." Lucy said, before it hit her. "Wait, what I said was totally normal!"

"No, it didn't make any sense." He stuck his tongue out at her while reaching for the last present. _Finally, things were back to normal_ , he thought.

"It totally did!" She argued, reaching out her own hand.

Natsu was about to retort happily when his hand closed around something warm. He looked at Lucy whose eyes had widened. Her cheeks were that weird pink again, and he began to realise that it wasn't make-up. "N-natsu, w-what are you doing?" she asked shrilly.

He winced at her sharpness in her voice, and then looked down at their hands. "Oh, I was going to take the present." He removed his hand from hers and picked up the present, adding it to the pile. Even though his body temperature was higher than the average human's, his hand still felt tingly where it touched hers. After securing the balance of the gifts, he stood up and prepared to head in the direction of the next stop.

"Lucy?" he called. He looked to his left. She was brushing the snow off her pants. The pink was gone from her cheeks, replaced with a slightly disappointed look. "Lucy, are you okay?" he asked concernedly.

"I— I'm fine." She patted her hair absentmindedly.

"You sure?" He asked again. Lucy always said she's fine even though she isn't, especially when she's hurt, or injured, or sad. Natsu knew that.

"…Yeah."

Natsu eyed her disbelievingly for awhile before switching to a happier tone. "Then, next stop!" He said cheerfully. "After this, its lunch right?"

He watched Lucy as she eyed him for awhile with a look in her eyes that he could not place, before she smiled gently. "Sure."

* * *

After a quick last stop, Fairy Tail's most compatible team sat down in a busy café for lunch. If the giant pile of presents didn't attract enough attention, Natsu's enormous pile of dishes definitely did.

Not that Natsu cared about what other people thought, as long as Lucy was happier. Whatever strange look she had on her face earlier had completely disappeared, and he was glad. Maybe now, she would stop being so quiet too. It was almost weird for her not to threaten to Lucy Kick him to the heavens once every 10 minutes (though it was certainly easier on his behind).

Out of all of Lucy's moods, this one was the one that Natsu disliked the most. She could be angry, delirious, stressed and even fanatic, but he couldn't handle sadness. He always felt like beating someone up when she was like that. _Hey… that's it!_ , he realised. Every time Lucy is sad like this, it's because of a guy! That made things so much simpler; all he would have to do was beat him up, then Lucy would be happy again!

"Lucy!" Natsu called out to her. "Did you see that white-haired dude again?"

"Who—Oh, you mean Magnus?" Lucy cocked her head to the side. "What about him?"

"Is he why you're sad?" He got straight to the point.

"I'm not sad." She frowned. "And no, he didn't make me sad."

 _So much for that_ , he thought. "Then why are you sad?"

"I told you, I'm not." She frowned. "What made you think so?"

"Well, uh," He scratched his head. "You were frowning and you sounded sad. And you weren't talking to me, and you only look like that after you see those other guys instead of going on jobs with Happy and me."

"No, no." She interjected. "I'm not sad. Don't worry so much, Natsu." She said before stuffing a mouthful of food into her mouth.

But Natsu persisted, even after they left for the train station. "You sure you're not sad?" He asked, jogging next to her.

"I'm sure!" Lucy said loudly, beginning to get tired of his questions. "Why do you keep asking?" she said exasperatedly.

"Because I don't like seeing you sad, Lucy!" he shouted, matching her voice level. The people around them were looking at them and smiling weirdly. Lucy looked around and her cheeks turned pink again. This time, Natsu was determined not to let it go unnoticed. "You see? _This_ isn't normal." He gestured at her cheeks.

"Wha—Oh. _Oh_." Her cheeks turned even pinker, as if to prove the dragon slayer's point. "I guess, it's because I'm cold?" she offered.

 _She wasn't sad?_ Natsu smiled in relief. "Is that all? Here." He pulled off his scarf and threw it around her neck. "Now you'll be normal, right?"

Lucy's face turned completely red, and Natsu was about to take back his words if not for the enormous smile that followed. "Yeah, I will."

"Alright!" He grinned.

* * *

Lucy was happy, which meant Natsu was happy. But it didn't change the fact that Natsu felt like puking. He didn't know when they got onto the train, but before he could even realise it, they were moving. His head was swirling and throbbing, he couldn't see straight. His nose could pick up the smell of his own vomit, and that just made him want to vomit some more. _Ugh, this is worse than being beaten up by Erza ten times in a row._ He moaned.

The only thing that seemed to be his salvation was this sweet, sweet smell that was coming from somewhere. Maybe if he closed his mouth really tightly and sniffed really, really hard, then he would only smell that. And so, clasping his hands tightly over his mouth, Natsu sniffed the air with as much force as he could muster.

"Natsu," Lucy giggled. "What are you doing?"

I guess he did look funny, but when you're about to pass out from motion sickness, who had the time to think about that?

"Would a massage help? My mother used to do it for me when I was a child." She offered.

Seeing as his brilliant plan didn't work, Natsu drunkenly landed on the bench next to Lucy. "Lucy—", he moaned. A wave of nausea crashed over him. "Walk—"

"Shh." She shushed him before pushing him down onto her lap.

 _Oh._ Despite the motion sickness, his heart stopped for a moment at her uncharacteristically bold action. When she began massaging his head in circles, he felt his mind dull in bliss. _This feels good_. He thought dazedly.

That was when he smelled it. That sweet smell… was coming from Lucy? He sniffed harder, and realised, that it was indeed coming from his partner. Now that he was closer, he could smell that it was fruity… strawberry? He sniffed again. It was also buttery. Like a strawberry tart, he chuckled.

"Are you feeling better?" Lucy asked him softly from above.

Natsu snuggled into her lap as his response, and he heard her heartbeat quicken, though he only registered that vaguely. She continued to rub her fingers into his scalp, her slow circles chasing out the pain and nausea that resided in his forehead. He felt his eyelids getting heavier.

"Natsu?" Lucy called out to him, but he felt too sleepy to respond. "I guess you're asleep." She said softly. She fell into silence, the sound of the train wheels clanking in the background and her fingers continuing to muss his pink hair.

Just as he was about to doze off, she piped up softly again. "I think I may like you, Natsu." He felt his heart begin to pound, even though he wasn't sure why. He liked her back, right? I mean, they were best friends, after all. Not liking her was out of the question.

But even he knew that that wasn't what she meant. He felt like his heart was about to pound out of his chest. Did Lucy really— I mean, didn't she like other— _Hey, why did it matter to me anyway?_ Natsu realised. His eyebrows furrowed.

"Natsu?" She asked concernedly, probably noticing his frown.

"Lucy, I—", he began, then shut his mouth again. "Nevermind."

He buried his face into her lap this time to avoid her concerned face, though it made her heart start pounding again. The only different this time was that hers wasn't the only one. Natsu suddenly felt like he couldn't breathe very well. _It must be the motion sickness._ He reassured himself. _It must be the one that is making him feel… weird._

* * *

Natsu and Lucy stood side by side in front of the town's welcome sign. They turned to look at each other with wide grins on their faces.

"Hey, Lucy—"

"Natsu—"

"This is where—"

"—we met, I know!"

The port town of Hargeon was as welcoming as they remembered it being. Even though night was about to fall, the streets were still crowded with travellers and locals; the market place packed with rows and rows of stalls selling everything from food to jewellery, books to charms. If Natsu had felt any nausea before, it disappeared the instant his eyes met this familiar sight.

"Lucy, Lucy!" He shouted, grabbing onto her hand. "Let's go check it out!" he pointed excitedly at the market place.

"But Natsu, the luggage!" she squeaked, digging her heels into the wooden platform.

"Screw the luggage! This is sacred grounds!"

"Just because we met here?" She rolled her eyes. "And I thought _I_ over-romanticised things."

Natsu chose to ignore her sarcastic comment. "Of course that's why!" He intertwined his fingers with hers and tugged again, harder. She blushed, and Natsu noticed. He briefly wondered why he felt so happy about that. "C'mon, Luu-ucy!" he called.

"Alright, alright." She relented. After she quickly made arrangements for their luggage to be dropped off at their hotel, Natsu impatiently dragged her away into the crowd of people.

A flurry of sensations came over him instantly; the mouth-watering smell of food, Christmas carols being sung in the distance, the sizzle of snow against his skin, and could he forget? The feel of her hands tightening their grip on his, and the smell of his smoky scarf mingling with her strawberry tart fragrance. He breathed it all in happily while his eyes scanned the perimeter. Suddenly, his eyes caught sight of a very familiar sign. "Are you hungry?" he turned around and asked.

"Actually, I think I am." She replied happily.

"Good, because look!" He pointed it out to her.

"Hey, isn't this the restaurant—"

"—where you bought me lunch?" He completed the sentence excitedly.

"Well, I was going to say ripped me off for all I was worth, but okay." She laughed.

Natsu puffed out his cheeks. "C'mon I didn't eat _that_ much." He whined.

"Have you _seen_ yourself eat before?" Lucy cocked one eyebrow and stared at him.

"Let's just go in already!" He pouted, though a wide smile soon crept onto his face. _Lucy was normal again!_ He felt like shouting from the rooftops, he couldn't stop himself from smiling. Natsu squeezed her hand fondly as they walked into the restaurant.

As they sat down in the exact same spot as they did the first time, Natsu suddenly realised something he had never realised before. While they waited for their food to arrive, he leaned over. "Hey, Lucy." He called.

"Hm?" she smiled at him.

"How would you have come to Fairy Tail if I hadn't brought you?"

He watched his partner as her eyebrows furrowed and she placed a finger to her cheek thoughtfully. "You know, I have no idea."

"Didn't you have a plan or something?"

"Not really. Back then, I thought Fairy Tail was this majorly exclusive guild that I couldn't get into unless I was really strong. When I met you, I guess I was still in one of my training phases."

"Pfft, exclusive guild? Who told you that?" Natsu chuckled.

"No one! I just… assumed it myself." She looked at him sheepishly. "Since I was so weak, y'know, back then."

"But Lucy, you're one of the strongest mages I know!" He protested.

"You think so?"She said, her cheeks slowly growing pink.

"I know so." Natsu replied confidently. "Why else would I choose you as my partner?"

"Wasn't it because you needed someone to act as bait for that mission?" She looked at him amusedly.

Now it was Natsu's turn to look sheepish. "Well, that's not all, you know!" He raised his voice. "It was also because I'd never seen magic like yours, and Happy liked you," he began listing. "You also got along with all of my friends, you're smart, pretty, _and_ strong."

Lucy's face was now completely red. "You think I'm pretty?" she squeaked.

"Of course!" He said confidently, though Natsu felt his face grow a little bit hotter than usual. "I mean, everyone else thinks so too." He added quickly.

The last comment didn't phase the celestial mage as she broke into a wide smile, the blush dusting her cheeks prettily. Natsu couldn't pull his eyes away from her, as if he _did_ just realise how pretty she was.

It was just then that their food arrived, and talk shifted to all the adventures they'd shared. Even though they'd chatted about it before, it seemed to hold more significance in that spot; the exact place where they had shared their first meal, had their first conversation, in the town where Natsu saved her for the first time, where he brought her to Fairy Tail, but most importantly, where their adventure together had begun.

Natsu wouldn't know what his life would be like if he had not met Lucy Heartfilia.


	6. Day 5 (part 1)

"Hey, Lucy, what's our plan for today?" Natsu moaned from the bed. Lucy could barely hear him from the toilet.

"Hm?" She stuck her tongue out in concentration as she tied one side of her twin tail. She was having a good hair day today, she noted happily.

"You're not listening to me, Lu-uucy." He whined. His voice was muffled.

"Didn't we go through this yesterday?" Lucy surveyed herself in the mirror satisfied; if she did say so herself, she looked _good_ today. A small voice in her head wondered if _he_ would think so too. Lucy watched a small blush creep onto the cheeks of reflection Lucy, and she shook her head.

As if she didn't have enough to deal with without her mind convincing her every other second that she was in love with the dragon slayer. It was bad enough that she had actually _said_ it in the train, even worse that he might have actually _heard_ her. She bit her lip, and then slapped her cheeks lightly. She didn't need these kinds of thoughts in her mind so early in the morning.

"What were you saying, Natsu?" She asked as nonchalantly as possible, coming out from the toilet.

All that greeted her was a light snore. Her eyes followed the noise until it reached a messy-haired Natsu sprawled out on the bed. _Was he serious?_ The blanket had been thrown aside, and the pillows sandwiched comfortably between the fire mage's arms and legs. And did she mention how he was sleeping _upside down_? Lucy stared at him, not amused.

"Natsu, get up!" she yelled.

This time, it was a snort before the rhythmic snoring fest began again. She stalked to the bed, annoyed. Lucy prodded her love interest – Wait, what? Friend, she meant friend! – square between the eyes. "Natsuu, wake up."

No response. She sighed. She lifted up one of his arms in attempts to drag him up. That was the first thing she would regret, because Natsu suddenly reached out and grabbed her by the waist, pulling her on top of him.

Lucy yelped. "N-natsu?! You can't do this two days in a row! That's cliché, you jerk!" she shrieked and struggled.

"But you smell nice, Lucy." He said drowsily, nuzzling into her neck.

"You were awake all this time?" She growled angrily into his ear. That was the second.

"I was awake yesterday too." He mumbled.

"Yesterday, but— You mean, in the hotel?" Third regret.

"No, I mean, on the train. What happened in the hotel?" He rolled her off him and sat up, rubbing his eyes.

Lucy patted her hair furiously, feeling oddly violated. "It doesn't matter what happened in the hote—Wait, did you say the train?" Her eyes widened. _Crap_. "You mean—"

"Mmhmm"

"You heard—"

"Mmhmm"

Lucy distanced herself as far as possible from him on the bed. This could _not_ be happening. She felt her face heating up rapidly.

"Lucy?" Natsu tilted his head to the side.

"You _know_ —I can't—Is this—", she stammered nervously.

"Lucy?" He interrupted. "It's okay."

She felt his warm presence move closer to her and she involuntarily backed up until her back made contact with the cool wall. She looked away embarrassedly as Natsu placed both hands on her shoulders. The warmth from his palms caused goose bumps to travel up and down her spine. The fact that she knew he could hear her heartbeat made it pound even harder against her chest.

"What do you mean 'it's okay'?" she mumbled. "Do you even know what the thing I said meant?"

Lucy felt the warmth of his hand leave her skin and she turned her head slightly in his direction. Natsu scratched his head nervously. "I guess. I mean, I feel weird here." He gestured at his chest. "It feels nice, I think. And if it has to do with you, then I'm okay about it." He grinned that aggravating smile that she had come to love, and Lucy felt her own defences lowering.

"Really?" She said softly, turning to face him fully, before something struck her in her mind. "Hold on a second… since when has Natsu been like this in real life?" She mumbled quietly to herself.

"Uh, Lucy?"

"Of course! This is a dream!" She suddenly exclaimed and jumped up, causing Natsu to fall back onto the bed in shock.

Meanwhile, Lucy breathed a heavy sigh of relief. "This whole thing is a dream! That explains so many things. And for a second, I thought you liked me back. Like _that_ would ever happen." She rolled her eyes and laughed maniacally.

Natsu eyed his partner warily. "I'm still here, you know." He said, slowly.

"So what? You're always in my dreams." She shrugged.

Natsu smirked. "I'm always in your dreams, Lucy?"

"Yeah, all the time!" She said confidentially before moving towards the door. "Now, to end the dream, we'll have to accomplish whatever the aim of the dream is!" She closed her fist tightly in determination.

"Dreams work that way?" Natsu asked, amazed.

"Of course!" Lucy said haughtily. "It looks like this is one of those hyper-realistic dreams about your next day, so we should just do whatever we planned yesterday." She said coolly. She totally had this under control.

"Uh, what's that?"

 _Right, dream Natsu doesn't know._ Lucy's mouth shaped into a small O. "Well, dream Natsu, we're just supposed to pick up a few more gifts for Mira's Santa Operation, then we'll be heading back to Magnolia."

"…Okay. Did you just call me dream Natsu?" His eyebrows furrowed in disbelief.

"Hold on, you _do_ know about the Santa Operation, right?" Lucy ignored dream Natsu's ignorant question and moved on. Dream Natsu wasn't usually this clueless… these hyper-realistic dreams were more realistic than she thought! Lucy pursed her lips, impressed.

"Lucy, I'm not _that_ stupid you know." Natsu cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Whatever, I don't want to waste anymore time, dream Natsu. Let's go already!" She grabbed his hand and pulled him along with her.

_Let's get this over with, dream world!_

* * *

Lucy had finally lost it.

She had been weird yesterday, but today she was just crazy. Figures, the only time he confessed something like that, she'd think it was a dream. Natsu puffed out his cheeks grumpily as he followed Lucy to the next store. He wasn't smart, and he could be dense, but he wasn't _that_ oblivious.

He used his other hand to clutch the fabric around the left side of his chest. His heart was still beating faster than normal. He couldn't say that he didn't understand it anymore. It only began when Lucy was in the room, and his chest felt almost empty when she wasn't around. He was always happy to be around her, but now his heart was happy too. That's what it meant, right?

He thought telling Lucy would make her happy but apparently not. Natsu frowned harder as Lucy beckoned to him wildly, while calling the name "dream Natsu" over and over again loudly. He sulked as he walked over to her. "I told you, I'm Natsu, not _dream_ Natsu." he grumbled.

"And for the last time, _dream_ _Natsu_ , we're totally in _my_ dream. How else would you explain this?" Lucy lifted up some obscure glass item and waved it in front of him, much to the annoyance of the shop keeper.

" _Excuse me_ , if you're not going to buy that, then would you please put it down?" The shop keeper said loudly, but she was ignored.

"Explain what? Shopping?"Natsu snorted.

"Yes, exactly, shopping!" The glass object was snatched out of her hands by the angry shop keeper.

"But we can shop in real life too." He pointed out, oddly reasonably.

" _But_ this is the task I'm supposed to complete in my dream, so it's not real life."

For once, Natsu felt like _he_ was the smarter one of the duo. "Stop being so weird!" He whined. "I thought you would like it if I told you that my heart is happy because of you."

Lucy turned a bright red. "W-w-w-w-what are you talking about?!" She stammered loudly before laughing falsely. "You're just dream Natsu so it's not real!" She reaffirmed her stance before walking away stiffly.

Natsu groaned loudly. The only way he knew how to make someone realise anything was through his fists. It was easier with the ice popsicle, or even that metal freak, but with Lucy? It was like thinking about punching Erza. The answer was simple: You didn't. But even more than that, Lucy was his precious friend; he'd rather die than hurt her. And yet, she was being so frustrating right now, he could… he could almost… punch a wall!

The sound of crumbling stone and angry shouting dragged Natsu out of his thoughts. When he looked to his right, he saw that his fist was buried deep into a stone wall. He pulled it out hastily and the wall immediately fell apart.

 _Oh, shit_. _Dream or not, Lucy was going to kill him!_

From a distance, he could hear her calling him. "Dream Natsu?" her voice travelling over the wind. Natsu looked at the direction the sound was coming from, the ruined wall, then the angry shop keeper that seemed to be searching for a weapon. He gulped.

"I'm coming, Lucy!" He yelled back in the most cheerful voice he could muster, and hightailed out of there.

* * *

Lucy couldn't believe him. And by him, she meant dream Natsu, not _Natsu_ like he kept trying to say he was. Even if she was acting a little off this time (she was still self-conscious, thank you very much), that didn't mean her sense of logic had completely diminished.

She realised that this dream _was_ more realistic than any of the other dreams she'd had before – and that should be enough proof – but then there was Natsu. He was being too sincere, too considerate, too _aware_. His confession, it _couldn't_ be real. Lucy shook her head furiously. Even if this was real, and she was making a big fool of herself, she couldn't get her hopes up. This was _Natsu_ she was talking about. He probably mistook his beating heart for excitement… or something.

Suddenly, Natsu voiced pierced through her inner thoughts. "Luuuucy, when are you going to believe me?" he whined for the hundredth time that day.

"No, Natsu! The question is when you're going to believe me?" Lucy asked back, annoyed. "Aren't I usually right about these things? You'll see, once we get the last item on this list, I'll wake up and you will go _poof_!"

"But Lucy—!" he protested.

"No buts! The last shop is right there." She pointed at a quaint looking cottage. But when she began walking towards it, she realised there was a lack of dragon slayer following her behind. Lucy turned around to see her partner sitting ( _sitting!_ ) in the middle of the street with his back turned towards her.

She rolled her eyes and stomped over to him. "Natsu, what the hell are you doing?!" She yelled.

"I'm not going in there." He grumbled. "I'm tired of telling you that this isn't a dream."

"For the last time, it is most definitely a dream. And you _are_ following me into this shop!" She argued back, yanking him by the scarf.

"No, let me go!" Natsu yelled back, thrashing about.

"Why. Do you. Have. To be. So. Stubborn?!" Lucy gritted her teeth and dragged him with all her might. All of a sudden, Natsu let go of his grip and Lucy found herself rushing towards the door, her run slowly building into a tumble and eventually a crash into the shop's doorway.

"Ow" Lucy mumbled, rubbing her sore head. She was curled up in an uncomfortable position on the floor, her hand still firmly gripping her partner's scarf. Funny, her legs have never felt so heavy before…

"Er, Lucy?" Natsu said, his voice surprisingly loud.

Lucy opened her eyes; her sense of sight registering the pink-haired boy sprawled on top of her faster than her mind. She stared back into his coal black eyes for a few seconds before she screamed an ear splitting scream.

"Get off me, Natsu!" She pushed him away, but he wouldn't budge.

"I can't!" He yelled back.

"This better not be a joke—"

"Oh, little miss, this is definitely not a joke." A foreign voice interrupted their squabble. The two mages turned their heads immediately to the source of the sound, which turned out to be an elderly man, gentle-looking if not for the mischievous twinkle in his eye.

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked, her anger dissipating out of politeness.

"Why, miss and mister, this," he gestured to their current positions. "is part of our shop's Christmas celebration. Every couple that walks through these doors will have to kiss under the mistletoe in honour of one of this holiday's most beloved traditions."

"K-K-KISS?!" Lucy stammered loudly.

"We get that reaction a lot. But it really is a wonderful tradition, is it not? It was so nice for those mages from Fairy Tail to set this up for us. We've never had this many customers!" The shop keeper clapped his hands together in glee.

Lucy's mouth dropped open. "D-did you just say, Fairy Tail?" She managed to ask.

"Yes, I did. I'm sure you've heard of her – Mirajane Strauss? Fairy Tail's most beautiful mage? She brought along this dashing young man with green hair. I didn't quite catch his name though." The old man rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

Meanwhile, Lucy's face began to pale in anger. "Is his name Freed?" She asked in a strained voice.

"Why, yes! Yes it was! How did you know, young miss?"

"I'm… from Fairy Tail." She managed to get out through gritted teeth.

"Oh, really?" While the man went on about what a coincidence that was, a crowd had begun to form both inside and outside of the store. Noticing this, Lucy's face paled even further. She had to get out of here before she was forced to kiss Natsu, but this was Freed's runes they were dealing with; the mage that had once single-handedly forced all of Fairy Tail's mages into a battle royale. Without the right kind of magic, it was literally inescapable!

As if reading her mind, the shop keeper suddenly said: "Don't think about getting out of there, little missy. I was informed that they would be literally inescapable unless the conditions are fulfilled. Sorry about that." He shrugged, looking like he wasn't sorry at all.

Lucy groaned exasperatedly.

"Uh, Lucy?"

She turned her head angrily at her next victim, completely forgetting how close their faces were until their noses bumped against each other. Lucy moved her head back instinctively but there was nowhere to run to. She gulped loudly.

"Y-yes, Natsu?"

"We're supposed to… y'know… right?" Lucy was surprised to see a light blush dust his cheeks. "B-but if you don't want to do it, I'm completely alright with it." He said in a heroic voice.

Lucy felt a wave of relief, but the situation immediately caught up to her. "But how else are we going to get out of here?" She asked him worriedly.

"I don't know." He admitted. "But I'm sure we'll find a way!"

"There hasn't been any other way. If you two would please hurry up, I have customers waiting to enter the store." The shop keeper interrupted.

"Sheesh, don't have to be rude." Lucy muttered under her breath.

"Lucy?" They made eye contact as their noses bumped against each other again. Lucy blushed. "I think I got an idea. Just, you have to close your eyes."

"W-wh-what? No! Then I won't know what you're doing!" She protested.

"Don't you trust me, Lucy?" Natsu's face suddenly took on a serious expression. Lucy found herself drawn deeper and deeper into his intense stare.

"I do trust you, but—"

"Then close your eyes." He interrupted her calmly.

Lucy looked at the crowd forming outside the shop, at the eager shop keeper, then back at his face. Then ever so slowly, she closed her eyes. There was a moment of silence. The sound of her pounding heart echoed loudly in her ears, and she closed her eyes even tighter in anticipation. _What was he planning to do?_

"Just kiss her already!" Someone shouted from amongst the crowd, and Lucy's eyelids fluttered open in shock.

At that exact moment, she felt something warm graze the side of her cheeks. It was so gentle. If she didn't know any better, she would have never thought her hyperactive friend was even capable of such a soft touch. He was always so rough with things, always crashing into something or breaking something or burning something into ashes. She felt her face getting warm despite the cold breeze. When he lifted his face into her view again, Lucy noticed he was sporting a blush of his own. The magic field around them shimmered once then disappeared.

"Well, I guess there was a way out of it after all!" The shop keeper exclaimed. "Miss, here's your gift, it's been pre-ordered. The total is 9,400 jewels." He held a gift bag out to them with a triumphant smile.

"Natsu…" Lucy whispered, her face still red. He turned away quickly and pushed himself off her body. Wordlessly, he offered his hand out to her. She took it gently, feeling the fleeting warmth before he let go once again.

"Don't tell me, it's the first time you two have done something like this? Oh, Mira sure is a sneaky devil!" The shopkeeper interjected cheekily. Lucy shot a death glare at the man – who cared how old he was – before paying him and stalking out of the store.

* * *

While she cursed the nerve of the shop keeper, she heard Natsu jogging after her and she slowed her pace. Tucking a strand of loose hair behind her ear nervously, she took a chance and turned to her left. They made eye contact for a second before turning away, blushing. _No big deal, nooo big deal. Just act casual._

"Can you believe the nerve of that guy?" She ranted, crossing her arms across her chest in pretend anger. Her cheeks were still tinged with red. "Not to mention, of Mira and Freed. They are _so_ dead when we get back!"

She was expecting an excited reply but she only got silence. Lucy turned her head curiously, but saw that Natsu was staring back at her with that serious expression on his face again. "Wh-what is it?" She stuttered, blushing.

"Do you still think this is a dream, Lucy?"

Her cheeks immediately flared up. "I-I-I-"

" _I-I-I-_ what, Lucy?" He said, taking one step closer to her so that she had to look up at him. Lucy closed her eyes tightly and turned her face away. A short silence followed, and then Natsu suddenly burst into loud peals of laughter.

"Did you think I was going to kiss you again, Lucy?" He said in-between chuckles. When Lucy didn't respond, he took a step back and grinned. "Don't worry, Lucy. I won't do it again."

"You won't?" The question slipped out of Lucy's mouth. She clamped her hand tightly and cursed her stupid brain. _Why was she feeling so disappointed?_

"I won't do it if you don't want to." He repeated the sentence from before again. "You'd rather do this with other people, anyway." He added nonchalantly, though his grin wavered a little.

"Other people…?" Lucy stared at him blankly.

" _You know…_ those other guys you're always going on dates with. It's not like you go on dates with me, right? Don't be so weird, Lucy." He said, beginning to walk ahead. "C'mon, let's go back to Magnolia so I can beat up that ice cube Gray! My fists have been missing some action!" He punched the air in front of him while yelling loudly.

Meanwhile, Lucy was still digesting Natsu's words. _I don't go on dates with him…? He won't kiss me if I don't want it? He doesn't know that I… like him?_ Her eyes bore into the muscular back of her dragon slayer. _He'll kiss me if I want him too?! He likes me?!_ Her eyes widened.

Natsu turned around to beckon at her to hurry up. "Lucy! Let's goooo!" he yelled.

Lucy felt her heart begin to pound, and she tightened her grip on the gift bag. _Natsu likes me. This isn't a dream._ The two sentences repeated again and again in her head as she slowly made her way to his side. As he skipped happily at her side, saying something about fighting and ice and Happy, she felt her heart beat even faster.

_Natsu likes me. This isn't a dream. Natsu likes me. This isn't a dream. Natsu likes me! This isn't a dream! Should I tell him?_

"Lucy?" Her heart skipped a beat as he suddenly stopped in front of her.

"W-wh-what i-is it?!" She yelped.

He narrowed his eyes. "You okay, Lucy?"

 _This is your chance, Lucy Heartfilia!_ Her inner voice piped up. _You should tell him now!_

_Wh-what?! NO!_

_C'mon, don't be such a wuss._

"I like—" She clamped her hand over her mouth.

_What the hell? Was that your doing?!_

Natsu stared at her, frowning. "You like…?" He prompted.

"Uh…" She looked around desperately, her eyes finally settling on a passing lady carrying a basket full of fish. "…fish! I like fish!" She said desperately, her heart beating fast.

"Is that all?" He grinned. "Then you should come fishing with me and Happy sometime!" He said, before turning around and walking again.

Lucy sighed in relief. _That was close_.

 _Hey! What do you mean 'that was close'? Don't you want to tell him how you feel?_ The voice in her head suddenly piped up again.

_No! What the hell was that for?!_

_What do you mean you don't want him to know? He_ _ obviously _ _likes you back. Don't you remember this morning?_

…

_Now he thinks you like fish! Do you think you're Happy or something?_

…

_Since when has Lucy Heartfilia stoop to such a low leve—_

_Enough, enough! I'll tell him! Just stop bothering me!_

"Uh, Lucy? What are you doing?" Natsu's voice interrupted her internal argument. She stared at him blankly before removing her hands from her hair sheepishly.

_I'll tell him. You'll see._

'It's... nothing." She mumbled.


	7. Day 5 (part 2)

_What am I going to do? What am I going to do? Lucy is going to get all weird again, or even worse, she's going to_ _ kill _ _me!_

Natsu had been pacing back and forth in his house for the past 10 minutes. The two of them had arrived in Magnolia after lunch, and after dropping off the gifts at the guild, they had agreed to meet up later and head to the Christmas Eve party together.

_Maybe I shouldn't tell her…_

Truth be told, his heart had been hammering in his chest ever since the incident in the Hargeon. Lucy had been so close, her smell so intoxicating, and he kissed her… He didn't know a lot about that, but he knew only people in love did it. Did he love Lucy? Was it just like Mira had been telling him? Ugh, Mira. That reminded him…

"Natsuu, are you okay?" A small voice piped up from above him. His Exceed partner flew in front of him, a concerned gaze on his face. "You didn't even say hello to me when you came back." He pouted.

Natsu blinked, and then reached out his hand to pat his friend on the head. "I'm fine, Happy. It's just Lucy…" He frowned.

"What's wrong with Lucy?" Happy asked immediately.

"Nothing's wrong with her, it's me…"

"What's wrong with you?! Did you get infected by her weirdness?!" Happy exclaimed, horrified.

"No! Well, maybe." Natsu frowned again and scratched the back of his head. He really didn't know anymore. "It's just that whenever I see her, my heart begins to beat really, really fast." He put his hands to his chest.

Happy's eyes widened and his mouth began to twitch.

"I even told her about it, but she just became so weird." Natsu continued. "You should have seen her, Happy! She thought everything was a dream, then we fought, then we got trapped in this freaky rune trap, then we ki—" He couldn't even finish his story before Happy blurted it out.

"You llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllike each other!"

Natsu normally let that phrase go in one ear and out the other. I mean, it was _obvious_ that he liked Lucy; that's why they were team mates! But this time, he just stopped to stare blankly at the Exceed.

"I even said it longer than usual this time." Happy merely stated proudly.

"You think Lucy likes me?" Natsu gaped.

"Well, _duh._ People only let you sleep in their beds if they like you." The Exceed reasoned.

"Really?"

"Yeah! That's why I've been asking Charle if I could sleep with her." Happy said excitedly. "I don't know why she keeps getting angry at me though, it's not like I'm going to _do_ anything." He mused.

"EH?! But that means she's liked me all this time!"

Happy shrugged. "I guess. Wait… does that mean I like her too?! What would Charle think?!" He wailed in dismal.

Meanwhile, Natsu fell back into thoughtful silence. He thought Lucy didn't like him after what had happened in Hargeon. After all, she didn't want to kiss him, and she had been cursing Mira and Freed too. That meant she didn't like it, right? He even comforted her about it. But now, according to Happy, she had liked him since they formed a team! Agh, girls were so confusing! Did she like him or not? Maybe he needed to ask someone other than Happy…

"Hey, Happy." He interrupted his feline partner who was still worrying about Charle. "Who do you think would know whether Lucy liked me or not?"

Happy stroked his blue chin thoughtfully. "Levy, I guess? They're always sitting together and talking about books." He wrinkled his nose in distaste. "I don't know what's so nice about that."

"Me neither, bud." Natsu stretched his back. "I'm going to find Levy, wanna come?" He headed to the door, leaving it open just enough for his furry friend to fly through it.

"Aye, sir!"

* * *

The guild was in a hustle and bustle preparing for the night's festivities. Even from a mile away, Natsu could smell the feast cooking and his stomach had growled in anticipation. He _would_ have said that the view upon arriving at the guild was even better – if possible, it was even more extravagantly decorated than it had been when they left it five days ago; the humongous tree taking centre stage in what had been transformed into a Christmas wonderland, with giant candy canes and an actual Asuka-sized gingerbread house – but to be completely honest, he was more interested in the food. In fact, it was no surprise to anyone that his first destination was the kitchen.

Natsu stopped at the entrance and inhaled deeply. "Mmmmm, when can I eat?"

The Fairy girls turned to look at him. Lisanna, being the nearest to him, reached out to wipe the drool trailing down the side of his mouth. She was wearing a white apron, just like all the others whom had volunteered for kitchen duty. "I'm afraid you'll have to wait until tonight, Natsu." She giggled.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe we can spare him something. He _did_ help transport all the gifts for Santa just now." Another white-headed maiden popped up from behind his childhood friend and winked at him.

"Even for me, Mira?" Happy piped up excitedly.

"Yes, for you too, Happy." She said, smiling.

Soon, the two were stuffing their faces happily with plates of piping hot food. That's when Mira decided to interrupt their eating. "Hey, Natsu, how did your 'job' with Lucy go?" She asked, winking again.

"Natsu said that his heart was bea—" Happy began, but found himself unable to continue as Natsu shoved a fish head into his mouth.

"It was fine!" He said, a little too quickly.

"Did anything happen between you two?" Mira pressed on.

"Well, actually we—" Natsu started, but then he suddenly remembered who he was talking to. "Hey, I just remembered! It was you! _You_ did that to me!" He stood up and pointed accusingly at the barmaid.

"Natsu!" Lisanna pushed his arm down forcefully. "What are you doing to my sister?!"

"It's nothing, Lisanna." Mira smiled at her.

"It wasn't nothing!" Natsu yelled, his arm bouncing back up again. "How could you even do that?!" A thin cloak of fire began to coat his body, and Lisanna jumped back a little at the sudden heat.

"Natsu, what are you doing?!" Happy yelled from his side.

"Mira…" Natsu said threateningly, ignoring the voices around him.

"Natsu…" Mira was frowning, her own white figure beginning to glow dark around the edges.

Suddenly, the kitchen door slammed open. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!" The familiar voice rang out through the kitchen. Natsu's jumped back in shock, his fire winking out. He whipped his head around, only to come face to face with the one person he really didn't want to see.

"E-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-erza!" He yelped, backing up as far as possible from the entrance. The requip mage was dressed in a Santarina outfit with furry white trimming, complete with red gloves and a hat. Very festive, if not for the devilish glare she was shooting at him right now. Did he also mention that she was brandishing a giant candy cane like a sword? He gulped nervously.

"What were you doing to Mira, Natsu?" Erza prodded him harshly with the edge of her candy cane.

"N-n-nothing, Erza!"

Mira, whose dark aura had disappeared as well, placed her hand on the red head's shoulder. "It really was nothing, Erza." She smiled her signature smile at her.

Erza squinted at her suspiciously, and then shot another glare at the helpless dragon slayer before finally pulling back her red and white striped 'sword'. "If you say so, Mira." She said, and turned around to talk to the takeover mage, her back facing the dragon slayer.

Natsu breathed a huge sigh of relief. Beside him, Happy nudged him quietly. "C'mon Natsu, let's get out of here and find Levy."

Unfortunately, he didn't say it softly enough, because Natsu immediately found himself pinned against the wall again. He whimpered as Erza pressed the candy cane even harder against his chest.

"What do you intend to do to Levy?" She asked threateningly.

He raised his hands in innocence. "N-n-nothing! I just want to ask her something!"

"Yeah, he wants to ask something about Lu—" Happy added, but he suddenly stopped when Natsu nudged him harshly with his foot. "Owww, what was that for, Natsu?!"

Erza noticed it and much to Natsu's horror, began to use even more force. "Is that any way to treat your partners, Natsu?" She growled.

"S-s-s-sorry Erza!"

"Don't say sorry to me, say it to Happy!" She yelled.

"Sorry, Happy!" Natsu yelped, terrified.

Meanwhile, Lisanna leaned towards her sister and commented on the scene before them. "Natsu's acting weird today, isn't he? I mean, even more than usual."

Mira just turned to her sister and smiled knowingly. "I think we'll find out why soon enough." She then reached out to tap Erza on the shoulder for the second time that day. "Erza, why don't you just let Natsu go? He looks like he's learned his lesson already, and it _is_ Christmas Eve." She reasoned.

Erza looked hesitant to let go, her hand still gripped tightly around her candy cane which was forcing Natsu into an early death. "Santa Claus might not come with your gift if you don't behave, you know?" Mira pressed on.

The redhead's face instantly paled. "R-really?" She loosened her grip, causing the candy cane to fall to the floor and unfortunately, land right on Natsu's toe.

As he hopped around on his good foot, yelping in pain, Lisanna sweat dropped. She also put the fact that Erza still believed in Santa away in her mind for future 'purposes' ( _What?_ You learn things when you're Mirajane Strauss' younger sisters).

At that moment, said red-head was holding up a ghostly pale Natsu up by the collar and dusting him off roughly. After a couple of solid thwacks ("He's a person, not a carpet!" Lisanna thought, but dared not interrupt), she sat him down on the floor again and stiffly pointed in the direction of the door. "Levy is in the library."

Natsu, after blinking a few times, sprang up from the ground and ran out of the kitchen, Happy quickly following behind him. Walking out right behind them, Erza beamed at the Strauss sisters. "I bet Santa will bring me a gift now." She said proudly, before closing the kitchen door behind her.

Mira turned to her sister and smiled. "Erza is cute, isn't she?" she said. Lisanna returned the smile, sweat dropping. She wondered if people knew that some of Fairy Tail's strongest members were this weird.

* * *

_Snip, snip._

_Sigh._

_Snip._

_Sighhhh._

"Are you not satisfied with my work-ebi?"

Lucy blinked confusedly. Cancer was making a concerned face at her in the mirror. She shook her head. "Your skills are flawless as usual, Cancer."

Her blonde hair was styled perfectly into light waves that fell gently past her shoulders. She had told him not to put it up as she usually did for flashy events; she was just too nervous for that, and she had found that this look framed her face much better anyway.

"Then what is the matter-ebi?"

Lucy stared at her reflection contemplatively before shrugging. She lifted her eyes to meet her spirit's. "How does one go about confessing to another person, Cancer?"

Cancer rubbed his claw against his chin in thought. "Good question-ebi. I guess it would be to—"

"Did I just hear the word _confess_?!" Another voice suddenly piped up, which shouldn't be possible unless someone broke into her house again, her bed gained self-awareness, or—

"You don't have to spare any breath from your pretty little mouth, Lucy-chan, because I already understand what it is your heart desires and my answer is yes!" Loki suddenly appeared in her doorway. He flashed Lucy a dazzling smile before walking over and taking her hand. "When shall we set the date? In a month? Next week? In fact, why not now?"

Lucy, whose patience had already began to go downhill the moment she had heard his first exclamation, suddenly whacked him solidly on the head. Loki fell to his knees sobbing. "What did I do wrong?" He wailed, one hand rubbing the sore spot on his forehead.

"Actually, the right question would be what you did _not_ do wrong-ebi." Cancer commented. Lucy stifled a giggle.

"Well, today is just one day." Loki recovered surprisingly quick and smoothed his hair back fabulously. "As long as I live, I will never stop waiting for Lucy-chan to return my feelings. And when that day finally comes, I will look back on these days in fond memory—Hey, are you even listening to me?"

While Loki had begun his relentless romanticising again, Lucy had turned back to Cancer to continue their previous conversation.

"Like I was saying-ebi, I think the best way to confess to someone is just to tell them straight. Nothing is better than the old-fashioned shoujo manga method of confessing-ebi." Cancer nodded his head sagely, before blushing when he made eye contact with his master. "Not that I read those things-ebi."

Lucy grinned, then her face turned serious again. "You think something so simple will work? What if I lose my nerve?" Her eyebrows furrowed in worry.

"We are talking about Natsu-san, right-ebi?" He looked at Lucy, who nodded, blushing. "Then I think something simple would be the best-ebi."

"What's so good about Natsu anyway?" Loki suddenly interjected, which only caused her to blush even harder.

"I-I don't know."

"It is because he is always protecting her, isn't that right, hime?" A new voice entered the conversation.

Lucy's eyes widened. "Virgo! What are you doing here?!" Her most trusted spirit had suddenly appeared in front of them in her usual maid attire.

"Would you like to punish me, hime?" Virgo cocked her head to the side expectantly.

"No!" Lucy instantly responded.

"Then what about later, hime—" Virgo was suddenly nudged aside by intruder #1.

Loki stood in front of Lucy with crossed arms. " _Is_ it because he's always protecting you?" He said with a threatening tone.

"You didn't have to do that to Virgo, Loki." Lucy reprimanded him.

"Just answer me." He said equally stern.

Lucy eyed her spirit judgingly. "What's wrong, Loki? Do you really need to know?"

"Yes."

"Then I deserve to know why."

Loki returned her gaze for a moment before turning his head away. "A lot of us are worried about you. We know you're serious about Natsu, but judging by the amount of sense he has, he might end up hurting you. As your spirits, we cannot allow that to happen."

Lucy looked from Loki, to Virgo and Cancer. The latter two were nodding their heads in agreement, despite their initial support. "I'm touched that you would worry so much about me, but I'll be fine. Natsu would never hurt me." She walked over to Loki and patted him on the shoulder.

"And if he does?" Loki turned to meet her eyes.

Lucy stared back determinedly. "Then you can beat him up."

A grin spread over his face like wildfire, and he let out a short cackle. "If you're that certain, then who am I to argue with you? Natsu is a lucky guy." He let out a small sigh as he smiled at her.

Lucy returned the smile. "So you're finally done with your daily bout of drama?" She teased.

"Oh, no! If it is you, I would do this tens of thousands of ten thousands of times over as long as I may be graced with the slightest bit of your attention." This time, it was Virgo who kicked him squarely in the head.

"What did I do to deserve this?" Loki wailed.

Lucy giggled. "I think it would be more appropriate to say—"

"—what you did to _not_ deserve this." Cancer finished her sentence.

The two of them plus Virgo exploded into laughter, and even Loki couldn't help but smile at the sight of his master being happy again.

* * *

Natsu walked down the street to Lucy's apartment, one hand tightly clutching the bouquet of flowers Levy had firmly placed in his hands, the other hand pulling nervously at the tie Erza had forcibly strung around his neck. He wished Happy was here with him, but he had been 'convinced' into staying behind at the guild (Mirajane said she would help him impress Charle that night) and Natsu was really beginning to feel the absence of his company.

Not only was the walk to Lucy's place longer than it usually seemed, it also seemed that the more he walked the tighter the noose around his neck got, and after a few more feet of walking, Natsu finally pulled it out and tossed it aside. After that, he ran his fingers through his overly gelled hair frustratedly, wondering what the hell he had done to get into this situation.

* * *

" _Levy! I need to ask you something!" Natsu called out, barging into the library. Suddenly, he screeched to a halt at the doorway, causing Happy to slam into his back._

" _Natsuu, why'd you stop?" Happy asked, rubbing his squashed nose._

_Natsu merely pointed in front of him, his face slowly turning pinker and pinker. It turned out that Erza had forgotten to mention that Levy wasn't alone. In fact, she looked incredibly comfortable with the fact that she wasn't alone, leaning in intimately towards her companion… until the door was slammed open, of course._

" _What the hell do you want, Salamander?" Gajeel growled. Levy squeaked and backed away to the other end of the table, her face completely red._

" _What were you—In the guild, really?"Natsu continued staring in disbelief._

" _So what? And answer my first question, you fire-breathing idiot."_

_Natsu walked to their table, scratching his head awkwardly. "I just wanted to ask Levy if she knew something… about Lucy."_

" _Hah, you're finally realising your feelings for bunny girl, eh?" Gajeel's tone switched from menacing to teasing._

" _Shut up, you metal freak!"_

" _Why you—" Gajeel's smile turned downwards and he stood up from his chair, his fist tightening. Levy immediately ran to his side and held onto his hand._

" _Don't, Gajeel. Why don't you go outside? I'll catch up with you later." She said. The iron dragon slayer sulked, though he listened to his girlfriend's orders. Natsu smirked at his obedience, but was immediately silenced by a particularly scary glare from Gajeel before the door was slammed shut once again._

" _So, Natsu," Levy began. She was leaning against the table, a slight pink still dusting her cheeks. "What did you want to ask me?"_

" _Right." He felt his own cheeks flaming up. "I just wanted to ask if you knew whether Lucy, uh, liked me or not." Levy gaped at him._

" _Yeah, he was thinking so much about it he didn't even say 'hi' to me when he came home!" Happy added cheekily, suddenly appearing after he had made himself scarce the moment Gajeel growled at them._

" _Is that so?" Levy's face suddenly took on a mischievous expression that Natsu didn't like. "When did you realise this?" She asked, looking directly at him._

_Natsu avoided her eyes. "I guess it was when I realised how nice she smelled and it took away my motion sickness." He mumbled._

" _Awwwww, that's so sweet!" Levy clasped her hands together. Her eyes were sparkling. Natsu gulped nervously._

" _So, do you think she likes me?" He asked again._

" _I don't see why she would not, but to make sure, I've got perfect idea. The first thing we'll need is to dress you up!" Levy took a few steps back and surveyed him from head to toe. "And I think I know just the person to help me do that!" She began to skip towards the door and out of it, and much to his horror, bringing back the one and only person he_ _still_ _didn't want to see._

" _Will doing this really make Santa come earlier this year?" The person asked as she entered the room._

" _Definitely!" Levy beamed at her, and Natsu's face began to pale._

" _No no no no no. Not her… of all people…" He said, backing away to the furthest corner of the library as the ladies came closer and closer._

" _You want Lucy to like you back, right?" Levy coaxed._

" _Happy?" He called out desperately, but his furry friend had suddenly made himself very scarce once again. "Anyone?" He yelped. The requip mage was now within punching distance._

" _We have to do this, Natsu. It's for the good of Santa. And of course, Lucy." She said, lifting him up by the collar._

" _Let go—agh!" He struggled tirelessly, but she had an iron grip… and a very large candy cane. Before he was knocked out, the last thing he heard was_ _Gajeel snickering loudly at the doorway. That jerk._

* * *

Natsu scrunched up his face. He shouldn't be thinking about this. He was on his way to Lucy's house wearing a suit for Mavis' sake! What should he do? What should he _say_?

" _Knock on the door, hand her the flowers, and then kiss the back of her hand_."Levy reminded him in his head. " _And don't forget to say 'my princess, I'm here to pick you up_." She had continued excitedly.

Natsu shook his head, chasing Levy out of it. Her advice just sounded like something that womaniser Loki would say. Natsu didn't want to be anything like that guy, but well, now he was even _dressed_ like he was. He surveyed himself for the hundredth time since he left the guild. Did Lucy really like this kind of thing? Natsu frowned. Well, she _did_ read a lot of books like that, and she _did_ go on a lot of dates with those types of guys. Did that mean he'd always have to be like this for her to like him? He didn't think—oh look, he was already here.

Natsu stared up at Lucy's apartment and gulped nervously. There was laughter coming from her apartment; he could easily distinguish her giggles from the rest. His heart began hammering again. When did it become so nice to hear her laugh?

More importantly, why was he so nervous? His feet felt like they were made of lead as he ascended the steps one by one. Was it because Happy wasn't around to boost him up the window? That probably wasn't it. He looked at his hand; it was shaking. What the hell? Natsu felt a strange combination of annoyance and fear as his hand wavered in front of Lucy's apartment door, refusing to go near enough to knock.

Suddenly, the chit chat in her apartment subsided and he heard some shuffling sounds. He didn't expect, however, for the door to open and hit him right in the face.

"Ow, what the f—" He groaned.

"Natsu? Is that you?" Lucy peeked out her door.

"Damn right it's me." He mumbled, rubbing his sore forehead and moving so that he was in her view. He was about to begin complaining about her door opening skills, but the words stalled in his mouth when he took in the sight of her.

Now, Lucy had a great body; everyone in the guild knew that, but at that moment, Natsu couldn't think of any other moment where she had been any more gorgeous. He couldn't quite put it into words. Was it because she was wearing the dress he bought her? Or was it because her scent made his mind feel all fuzzy? Uhh, he didn't know. His heart was pounding so hard that he couldn't think. He didn't even realise his mouth was open until Lucy leaned over and closed it for him. Her fingers felt so soft... wait, what?!

Natsu jumped back at the sudden contact, breathing hard. Lucy was as startled as he was, if not more.

"N-natsu? What's the matter?!"

"I-I-I-" He stuttered. What was wrong with him? It was just Lucy; who looked like a goddess in that red dress that reminded him exactly of his flames, which was the second most important reason why he bought it for her. Right, _just_ Lucy. He wiped his sweaty palms against his dress pants nervously, completely forgetting about part two of Levy's advice.

The flowers scattered at his feet and Natsu felt his heart stop. _Oh shit. Oh shit shit shit shit shit._ He looked from the flowers to Lucy, and then forced his lips into a smile. "Uhh, these were for you but uh, I thought you would like it more if they were… on the ground. Yes! Flowers should be in the ground, right?" He faked a laugh.

As his laughter slowly died out, there was a silence as Lucy just eyed him with a strange look on her face. Natsu gulped nervously. _Okay, next step, next step. What the hell did Levy say already? Door, flowers, hand. Hand? What the hell is that supposed to mean?!_

Before he could give it any more thought, his hand had already stretched out and grabbed hers automatically. For the first time in his life, he cursed his habit of doing things without thinking.

_Natsu Dragneel, why do you have to be such an idiot! Now Lucy's looking at you funny. Quick, think! What do people do when they grab a person's hand?_

He did the first thing that popped into his mind. Natsu shook Lucy's hand. As the action sunk in, he felt the colour drain out of his face. _What the hell was that?! What kind of person shakes hands? Who does that anymore?_ "Uh, Lucy, I can explain…" He began, but he was cut off when she suddenly burst into laughter.

"Pfft, I can't take this anymore!" She exclaimed, doubling over in glee. After a long while, in which Natsu just stared at her blankly wondering what in Magnolia was happening, Lucy stood up and wiped the tears of mirth away from her eyes. "What are you _doing_ , Natsu?" She giggled.

Natsu gaped at her. "I—"

Before he could even think of an answer, he was interrupted. "Oh crap, look at the time! We're going to be late!" Lucy exclaimed, rushing back into her apartment. She returned quickly with a small bag. "Shall we go?" She smiled at him.

Natsu blinked a few times blankly before nodding. He felt her hand close around his, gently tugging him along. Suddenly, it stopped as Lucy bent down and picked up a flower, a small white one that hadn't yet been snapped or trodden on.

"And thanks for this." She showed it to him before tucking it behind her ear. "It was really sweet." She said softly, her cheeks turning a little pink.

A smile tugged on Natsu's lips as he followed her down the steps of her apartment. Maybe Levy hadn't been totally wrong.

* * *

It seemed as if the whole town of Magnolia was in the Christmas spirit. Lucy's street, which was usually quiet and rather deserted in the evenings, was surprisingly merry. People were milling about; some rushing off to Christmas gatherings, some couples just spending time together in the snow. Just like they seemed to be, Lucy realised, blushing.

Ever since they left her apartment, they'd been holding hands and it didn't seem like either of them had the intention of letting go. Or at least, that's how she felt. While the rest of the world was cold on her bare skin, the side of her that was nearest to him was warm. She didn't realise before this, how large Natsu's hands were; her hand was completely hidden within his. Nor did she realise how rough they were, weather-beaten from the countless battles he'd been through.

Truth be told, it was taking all of her willpower not to lean closer to him, or to be completely honest, just jump him right there and then. It wasn't like with her other dates; where she always wanted things to go slow and coy, like how it happened in romance novels.

With Natsu, she just wanted him in the most basic meaning of the word. She had realised in Hargeon that she _didn't_ want to see him with anybody else other than her. To Lucy, Natsu wasn't just her team mate, he was her source of comfort, fun, the person she could trust the most, and the person she least wanted to lose.

But while that made a good friend, he also made her heart beat senselessly, invaded her thoughts with no restraint, and was the person who gave her a home when she had none. He meant more to her than anyone else now. The only problem was how would she tell him?

They were nearing the guild now, and the streets were slowly emptying as more people reached their destinations for the night. Lucy was still contemplating the possibility of confessing to him when a snowflake fell onto the tip of her nose, sending chills straight down her spine.

"You should have told me you were cold, Lucy." Natsu piped up. And before she knew it, he was discarding his coat and draping it over her shoulders instead. "Better?" He grinned at her.

Lucy nodded furiously to hide her growing blush.

"Good. It's not like I needed the coat anyway. It was just something Erza forced me to wear to impress y—" Natsu suddenly stopped mid-sentence. His face had suddenly turned extremely red.

"What did you say?" Lucy asked, even though she had a good guess. Her heart began thumping.

"I was forced to wear the coat for, uh, what I mean to say is—" He scratched his head nervously. "Uh, nevermind. Should we hurry? We're kind of late and all." He said, suddenly increasing his pace.

 _Since when did_ _Natsu_ _worry about being late?_ Lucy grabbed onto his arm without thinking, causing him to turn around and face her. "Hold on. I didn't hear what you said before, could you repeat it?" She asked, realising a little too late how desperate she sounded.

"It was nothing, Lucy, let's just go." He said after a moment's hesitation, grabbing onto her hand again and pulling her along with him. Refusing to give in to that lousy excuse, Lucy tried to dig her heels into the snow in rebellion. Unfortunately, you didn't have a lot of snow to work with if you were right beside a fire dragon slayer. So she resulted to other methods.

"But Natsu, what's so secretive that you can't even tell _me_ about it?" She asked, increasing her pace so that they were walking side by side once again. "We _are_ best friends, right?"

Natsu merely turned his head away. Lucy could see that he was blushing. It suddenly became so obvious to her; he liked her. Her suspicions were right all along! What other reason would make him blush like that? He even showed up at her doorstep wearing a suit and offering flowers. It was so uncharacteristic of Natsu that it _had_ to be true. I mean, what other word would follow after y—

All of a sudden, a small thought piped up from the back of her head. _What if he doesn't like you? Plenty of other things begin with a Y and rhyme with 'you'. Like, for example, Yukino!_ Lucy's eyes widened in realisation and her movements slowly decreased in speed.

_Right, I could have always be over-romanticising it. I mean, besides the flowers, what has Natsu done to show me that he liked me? He protects everyone, has fun with everyone, he has a_ _ ton _ _of trusting friendships. That doesn't make me anything… special._

Lucy felt herself slowly coming to a stop. All of a sudden, she shook her head and slapped herself; she was going insane with all these thoughts. _Get a grip of yourself, Lucy Heartfilia!_ In front of her, Natsu had turned around to face her.

"Lucy, you're right. You're my best partner. I shouldn't be hiding these things from you." He said determinedly. Her hands that were firmly placed on each cheek slowly lowered to her sides. Her eyes widened.

"The truth is, I really, really," Natsu stop to take a large breath. "really, really, _really_ like y—"

"Yukino?" She squeaked, the words coming out of her mouth before she could even digest them. Lucy clasped both hands across her mouth. Her face paled.

"Ye—wait, no! W-why Yukino?!" He yelled, but Lucy was already running away.

 _Shit, did I really say that? How could I say something so embarrassing?! He could have been saying that he liked_ _me_ _. I thought he was the one that did things without thinking. Stupid Lucy, stupid stupid stupid!_ She thought, knocking herself on the head as her legs kept pumping through the snow.

Behind her, she could hear the sizzling sound of snow melting. "Wait, Lucy! What's wrong!?" Natsu was yelling.

She would tell him but she didn't know herself. _Why_ was she running? _Why_ did she think he liked Yukino instead of her? _Why_ did the thought of it sicken her so much that she couldn't even be near him? _Why, why, wh—_ Lucy felt her body make contact with something solid as she was tackled fiercely from behind.

 _Why_ did she feel like she had been in this situation before?

Lucy slowly opened her tightly closed eyes and saw that Natsu was on top of her; to her left, the cold and unforgiving wintery landscape, to her right, a Christmassy wonderland…?

"Hey, hey, look who's the most recent couple to be trapped by Freed!" Someone exclaimed loudly.

"You mean, Mira." Another person, a female voice this time, noted wryly.

"You say that like you hated it, gihi."

"Gaj—Mm!"

"Oh you two, get a room!" Someone shouted from a distance.

"Yeah, as if I hadn't seen enough kissing since the night began." This time, the voice came from a closer source.

"Does that mean Gray-sama did not enjoy being united with Juvia under mistletoe-san?!" A female voice shrieked.

"What the hell, Juvia? And mistletoe-san, seriously!?"

"Gray! Go console your girlfriend before she floods all the Christmas decorations!"

"How many times do I have to say this, she's not my girlfri—"

A small cough brought Lucy back to the situation at hand. _Right. Trapped. Mistletoe. Kiss. Got it._ She blushed. "If you don't want to do this, we can just do the same thing we did before." Natsu mumbled on top of her.

Before she could stop herself, the answer was already slipping out of her mouth. "No! No, I mean, I don't mind if you don't mind." She said, her voice getting softer and softer.

"Are you sure?"

"I guess." Her heart was pounding. "I mean, it's f-fine if it's you."

"Why is that?" His face had turned completely red again, and Lucy suspected that he wasn't asking that question just for fun.

She felt her own cheeks flaring up. It was probably now or never. "I mean, it's o-okay since I l-l-like you." She stuttered.

"WHAT?!" Natsu exclaimed right into her ear, causing her to wince.

"I said!" She began, this time louder. "I l-like y—"

Lucy was cut off midway by a sudden warmth on her lips. Her eyes widened in shock as her brain slowly registered the sensation. It wasn't perfect. In fact, it was pretty clumsy as kisses went. His lips were pressed too hard against hers and she couldn't breathe, but it didn't stop her heart from beating a mile a minute. When he finally let go, he was panting like _he_ was the one who had been running miles, while Lucy just laid back on the ground in complete shock.

"N-n-n-natsu!" She managed.

"I'm sorry, Lucy!" He exclaimed hurriedly. "I shouldn't have done that without asking you first, but I was just so happy when you said you liked me that I couldn't stop mysel—"

 _Oh, screw it._ Lucy reached out and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him in for another kiss. At first, Natsu froze in panic, but Lucy slowly began to realise what they meant when they called a person a 'fast learner'; and Natsu, if it wasn't clear enough already, was a _very_ fast learner.

When they finally broke apart, they were both panting so hard that you would've thought they'd run from the guild to Lucy's apartment and back instead of just locking lips on the ground in front of the guild. In the background, there were a chorus of wolf whistles and cheers.

"It's about time you two hooked up!"

"Can Juvia and Gray-sama k-k-k-kiss like that too!?"

"Mira-nee, don't faint!"

"Making out is man!"

"C-can we do that again, Lucy?" His voice pulled her back once again. Lucy finally felt her heart beat slow down to its normal rate as she locked eyes with the man on top of her.

His hair was a mess, his lips looked swollen, steam was literally rising from his face; Lucy suspected that she didn't look any better. But he was Natsu; her goofy best friend, her reliable team mate, and now… her lover. She pushed him into sitting position and wrapped her arms around his neck. Leaning even closer, she whispered into his ear: "Later."

Even though she couldn't see his face, she could feel him grinning into her neck and Lucy couldn't help but crack a smile of her own. All of a sudden, she felt herself being hoisted up by the waist and enveloped into a tight hug.

"Lucy! Lucy, Lucy, Lucy!" Natsu called her name over and over, swinging her around. She felt the wind whipping through her hair, breezing away all her worries and doubts. "Yes, Natsu?" She replied in-between giggles. Slowing down, Natsu lowered her so that their noses were touching.

"Just checking. But does that mean you like me back?" He asked.

"I think it does." She giggled.

In a quick movement, he landed a peck on her lips. "I love you, Lucy." He said quietly, before flashing his signature grin. The warmth quickly spread to her cheeks, as fast as the smile appeared on her lips. "I'm getting quite good at that, eh?" He added, smirking.

Lucy whacked him playfully, before leaning in for a kiss of her own. "Merry Christmas, Natsu." She murmured against his lips. A small blush appeared on the dragon slayer's cheeks.

"Merry Christmas to you too, Lucy." He smiled.


	8. Epilogue (part 1)

The sunlight woke her up. Lucy felt it pierce through her closed eyelids, and she moaned sleepily in response. Was it morning already? It felt like she went to sleep only awhile ago. Her mind felt like it was stuffed with cotton and her body was numb from the neck down.

It would be so easy to fall back asleep, but she had this nagging feeling at the back of her mind that she was supposed to be awake for something.

But what was it?

She hadn't planned on taking any jobs today, nor did she plan on starting that new chapter of her novel yet; she couldn't do anymore shopping otherwise her rent would be at stake, and it was _still_ too cold for Natsu and Happy to try and drag her out for fishing (she didn't understand what was so enjoyable about dangling worms in water).

But more importantly, she couldn't think of any reason why she _shouldn't_ stay in bed. In fact, she already had two reasons why she should. That is, one: It was warm in her bed; and two: It was cold outside her bed. _And_ she didn't have carpeted flooring.

That's it, she was sleeping in.

Sighing happily, Lucy snuggled further into her blanket, relishing the warmth that had trapped within the sheets. Even though winter should already be coming to an end, the chill hadn't totally left yet. And with the state that her rent money was in, she couldn't afford to get her heater properly fixed.

 _At times like these_ , she thought, a sudden smile coming onto her face, _it's useful to have a dragon slayer around._

The one in question shifted in the spot next to her, a hand reaching out to scratch his neck before it fell back limply against his side. His loud snores caused the bed to vibrate at measured intervals. Lucy remembered how many hours of sleep it had cost her to get used to it, but now she couldn't sleep peacefully without it.

Tenderly, Lucy reached out and wound her arms around the sleeping figure next to her. She let out a sigh of content as her cheek made contact with his back. _It's so warm_ , she thought drowsily. His body heat spread to where they were touching, spreading across her face and gently pushing her eyelids close. She vaguely registered herself losing consciousness, until…

"Lucy, are you awake?" His voice was thick with sleep, his question asked quietly so as to not wake up the mass of blue fur that was curled up next to him.

Despite herself, Lucy felt her mind awaken for the second time that morning. Refusing to answer, she simply snuggled closer to him.

"Lu-ucy, I know you're awake." he said, his voice louder this time. Slowly, he began to turn around until Lucy found herself facing his chest instead of his back. She quickly shut her eyes, her heart beginning to thump in excitement.

"Aww, I thought you were awake already." he muttered. She had to bite onto her inner lip to stop herself from giggling. "Hmm, I guess there's no helping it… I'll just have to tickle you until you wake up!" he suddenly exclaimed.

Lucy's eyes jolted open, but she was too late. He had already begun attacking all her weak points; her waist, armpits, the bottom of her feet, behind her ankles, her neck… She burst into hysterical laughter, interrupted only by her frantic gasps for air. Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes as she wiggled and waved her hands about, attempting to stop his relentless torture.

"N-natsu – hahahahahaha – sto – hahaha – stop it!" she exclaimed in-between giggles.

"Stop what, Lucy?" He teased, a wicked grin on his face.

"St – hahaha – stop tickling me!" Lucy managed to get it all out in one go.

"Not until you say 'I love you, Natsu'" he said, continuing to tickle her sides.

"Not now – hahahahahaha – don't be ridiculous – hahaha – Natsu!"

"If you don't say it, I'm going to keep tickling you!"

"Pleas – hahaha – Natsu—" Lucy burst into another series of uncontrollable giggles.

"Ugh, do you two really have to do this in the morning?" A voice piped up among the sound of laughter and, much to Lucy's relief, caused Natsu to draw back his nimble fingers.

"Good morning, Happy!" he said cheerfully while Lucy gripped the bed sheets, panting heavily.

Instead of greeting his 'father' in his usual cheerful fashion, the Exceed pouted. "You're so mean, Natsu! You interrupted my dream of fish _and_ I got pushed off the bed." Happy complained.

"Darn, I'm sorry buddy." Natsu reached out and patted him on the head fondly. Having caught her breath, Lucy propped herself up using her elbows and stared at the two.

"Hey, where's my apology?" she demanded, poking Natsu in the side sharply.

There was a slight pause before Natsu let out a deep chuckle. "You want an apology, Lucy? Roger that." He turned to her with a mischievous glint in his eyes. Lucy gulped nervously. She didn't like the sound of that.

In one swift moment, she found herself pinned under his muscular arms. Flashing a cheeky grin, he began to dot her face with kisses. Lucy giggled as he nipped her neck, her nose, her forehead, her cheek.

At the same time, Happy let out another groan, mumbling something about 'inappropriate' and 'finding Charle' before flying out the door.

As the bedroom door slammed close, Natsu's face began to take on a more needy expression. With one finger, he began to trace her lips, moving further down to her neck and stopping before her chest, where he looked up to meet her eyes.

Lucy gulped nervously. "Wh-what are you doing, Natsu?" she stamered, but was quickly hushed by a single finger on her lips.

"Well, Happy is gone now…" he whispered, before leaning in to peck her on the lips.

He traced her lips slowly with his tongue until she relented. Lucy found herself moaning unabashedly as his tongue explored the insides of her mouth, his hands travelling down the sides of her body hungrily.

The way Natsu kissed, she could feel her mind going blank. It was like he was drowning and she was his only source of air. It was hungry and selfish, passionate and consuming. "Mmngh, Natsu. It's too early…" She moaned, but was instantly silenced by another kiss.

 _Fine, two can play at this game_ , she thought deviously. With one solid shove, Lucy became the one that was looking down at Natsu who, if anything, looked even more turned on than before. "Lucy…" he groaned, playing with the waist band of her pyjama bottoms.

Suddenly, she smelt something burning. When she looked down, Lucy yelped. "Natsu! What did I say about burning my clothes?!" she shrieked.

Natsu reached up to nip her ear. "Don't worry, you know I won't burn you." he said huskily, moving to grope her behind as her shorts slowly disintegrated.

"That's not what I meant—mmhh." she moaned as Natsu dragged her in for another kiss.

This went on for awhile, Lucy pushing and Natsu pulling, until a loud beeping noise pierced the air. They jumped apart in shock, both of them breathing heavily.

"What _is_ that?" Natsu asked loudly.

"It's just my alarm clock." Lucy responded. "Let me turn it off—" her voice halted mid-sentence. Her eyes began to widen as it took in the sight before her.

"What's wrong? Just turn it off already and we can continue." Natsu piped up from behind her, his hand already moving up her back.

Ignoring his touches, she quickly shut the alarm and rushed into the toilet, slamming the door behind her.

"Hey, what gives—" Natsu began, interrupted by the sight of a note stuck on the face of her alarm clock. "Meeting… Levy… 10am…?" he read out loud.

At that moment, Lucy rushed out of the toilet already fully dressed. Without a pause, she grabbed her bag and began to head towards her front door.

"Luuucy, but we were just—" Natsu rushed after her, whining.

She paused at the door and looked back at him. "Sorry, Natsu. We'll continue this later—"

"Tonight" he interjected seriously. Lucy couldn't help but crack a smile.

"Fine then. Tonight." she smirked. She turned back around and began descending the stairs, two at a time. "Remember to lock up behind you!" she called back.

"I'll be waiting!" he replied, his voice lowered in the tone he knew she liked.

Lucy felt her heart jump. "Mm!"

* * *

Levy arrived at the book café, a quaint wooden structure set in the back lanes of Magnolia town. She and Lucy had found it by chance after a long day of shopping and instantly fell in love with it.

Besides stocking an impressive book collection, it was quiet and peaceful. Its regular clientele was made up of readers, writers and artists, and the noise level never went further beyond quiet conversation. It was the complete opposite of the guild hall, which is why they were meeting here today.

A serene smile appeared on Levy's face as she walked into the café. She inhaled deeply, the aroma of coffee and baked goods quickly invading her senses. It didn't take long for her to order her usual and sit down at their spot, but not before doing a quick survey of the café.

As usual, she was the only Fairy Tail mage here. _Perfect_ , _now all I have to do is wait for—_

At that exact moment, Lucy walked through the café doors. A gust of cold air followed, and Levy watched as her best friend welcomed the café's warmth with glee. She continued to watch, amusedly, as the blonde's face transitioned into a peaceful smile, not unlike the one she wore earlier.

This place certainly had an effect on them.

After placing her order, Lucy turned to where the blunette was sitting. "Sorry, Levy-chan! Am I late?" she asked, hurriedly sitting opposite her.

Levy waved her hand casually. "No, I just arrived."

Lucy sighed in relief. "That's great," she said, digging around in her purse. "Can you believe I almost forgot about our meeting?" She pulled out a hair tie and began tying her signature ponytail.

"If it's because of Natsu again, I understand." Levy teased.

The blonde released the hair tie with a snap, her cheeks turning red from reasons other than the cold.

"Spot on, eh?" she smirked.

"You're talking as if you've never been late because of Gajeel before." Lucy retorted.

Levy coughed. "Anyway, Lu-chan, I managed to find that book I was telling you about—"

"Don't even attempt to change the topic, _McGarden_ " her friend began, a sly grin appearing on her face.

As they continued to banter, their orders arrived; an éclair and latte for her, and a slice of chocolate cake and mocha for Lucy. The two stopped for awhile to take a sip of their drinks, shuddering happily as the warmth spread across their bodies.

"Mmm, this never gets old." Lucy sighed contently. Seemingly appeased by the hot drink, she looked up at Levy. "You brought the book today?" she asked.

"Yep, let me just…", she reached into her bag to pull out the thick book. It had taken her over an hour to locate it, which probably wasn't surprising considering her book-filled room. But what _was_ surprising was where she eventually found it; locked up and at the bottom of a chest. She couldn't for the life of her remember why she kept it there, but she definitely had a bad feeling about it.

Before Lucy could take it away, Levy placed both hands on the book cover. It was purple and decorated with black ivy, with a velvety touch to it. She looked at her friend seriously.

"Lu-chan, before I show you what's inside this book, are you _sure_ you want to go through with this?" she questioned. "I found it in a really weird location, and I'm not sure if—"

Lucy interrupted her. "I thought we decided she deserved a taste of her own medicine." she chided.

"I still think you should be thankingher instead of cursing her. After all, she _did_ get you and Natsu together."

"This _is_ Mira we're talking about, right? Remember what she did to you and Gajeel a few months ago?" Lucy leaned forward.

Levy grimaced. She would never forget how humiliating it was to have her clothes spontaneously begin disintegrating right in the middle of the guild. Jet and Droy had fainted, and those old geezers didn't lose any time in gawking at her.

Luckily, Gajeel had come to her rescue; sweeping her up into his arms faster than she thought was possible and after that… Levy blushed. Well, what happened after that didn't matter.

What mattered is that it was embarrassing, and that it wouldn't have happened if Mira hadn't 'accidentally' spilled that concoction all over her clothes. She covered her rapidly flaming cheeks at the memory of it as Lucy looked on smugly.

"J-just to get this straight – we're doing this for the greater good, right?" she sputtered.

Lucy pointed a finger gun at her. "Exactly. Even though I hate to admit this, Mira _did_ help us in the long run but she also caused us a lot of embarrassment, so it's time to return the 'favour'." She cackled evilly.

Levy sighed, thinking that her friend seemed to be taking on some of her boyfriend's eccentric tendencies. "Well, fine. I did do the research for it anyway." she consented.

"You're the best, Levy-chan!" Lucy cheered.

Opening the book's cover, she ran her finger down the index until she found the thing that she was looking for. _Page 394… there we go._ She turned the book so that it was facing the celestial mage.

"Here it is. One spritz of this and the person will be unable to resist the urge to kiss the person that they love. The ingredients are relatively easy to find as well." She explained. "You know, I'm kind of glad alchemy is not Mira's forte, some of the things in this book are really terrible…" she added, although Lucy seemed to have stopped listening at that point.

"This is perfect! When can we begin?" Lucy exclaimed.

Levy paused for awhile in contemplation. "We could easily prepare it now, but I was thinking that we should aim for the Valentine's Day party next week. Increase our chances of the 'right person' being there, you know?" She said, a cheeky smile coming onto her otherwise innocent face. Well, maybe she could get used to this revenge thing.

"I was thinking the same thing! And I got just the plan to carry it out. Listen…" Lucy leaned closer to her, and the two began discussing the sequence of events that would happen in 7 days.

However, they were so deep in discussion that they didn't notice a figure eavesdropping on them from behind a pillar, a table away. Shrouded in the shadows the figure chuckled. This was going to be too easy.

That potion would be hers.


	9. Epilogue (part 2)

It had been a long and tiring week for Lucy Heartfilia. Besides taking a total of five monster hunting jobs with Team Natsu (with hardly any pay leftover, she might add), she had done an interview with the Sorcerer's Weekly, submitted an entry for a Valentine's story contest, completed an additional two chapters of her novel… all the while searching for potion ingredients, meeting with Levy, and other orthodox preparations for Valentine's.

It was so exhausting, it had even reached a point where she didn't think today would come, but finally… _finally_ it was here. The blonde-haired beauty stood at the doors of the guild, taking in the party which was already in full swing.

Figures.

She had yet to meet a Fairy Tail mage who would be willingly late for anything that involved booze. Even if it was a Valentine's Day party.

As per the theme, the guild hall was a vision of pink and white. Long lengths of soft pink and silvery white fabric hung across the room from the centre of the ceiling. Their ends met in the corners of the hall, making the room look like the indoors of a giant tent.

Opaque, cloudy spheres (they reminded her of giant pearls) fixed the fabric in place on the walls and ceilings. They emitted a soft glow that made its surroundings just bright enough to see, but dim enough to set the mood.

There were also hearts. Hearts, everywhere. From the chairs to the dessert, to the patterned tablecloths and flower arrangements. Lucy suspected that if she went to the toilet, she might even find heart-patterned toilet paper.

However, all of those things still paled in comparison to the guild's latest centrepiece – a chocolate fountain easily 3 heads taller than herself. It was placed exactly where the Christmas tree was two months ago, complete with a statue of cupid (that looked disturbingly like Master) acting as its topper.

Lucy got so distracted by it that she didn't even notice Levy calling her, until her friend's petite hand was waving in her face.

She quickly took in the blunette's cute dress; a short, ruby red number that accentuated her slender hips and pert behind. "Levy-chan! You look great!" she exclaimed.

Levy puffed her cheeks playfully. "Well, it's about time you replied me. You look great too." She smiled. "That white dress really matches the decorations."

Lucy huffed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's a compliment!" she laughed. "You look like an angel… although I shouldn't be the one paying you any worship, if you get what I mean." She winked, turning to look across the room where a certain pink-haired dragon slayer stood.

The blonde coughed embarrassedly. "What about Gajeel?"

"Well, actually…" The blunette turned in the other direction and pointed him out.

He looked positively malicious, even more so than usual. At first, Lucy surmised that it was the sappy decorations that clashed with his look, but soon realised that his anger was directed elsewhere. She followed his glare to the other side of the room where the other two members of Shadow Gear sat. _Oh._

"Jet and Droy have been trying to confess to me non-stop today." she explained.

"I'm more amazed that they're still trying." Lucy raised an eyebrow.

Levy exhaled loudly and shrugged. "They wouldn't be part of Team Shadow Gear if they didn't have at least _that_ amount of courage." she said. "Not that anything would stop Gajeel." she remarked wryly.

"More importantly, is everything ready on your end yet?" she asked, changing the topic.

After preparing the potion together at Fairy Hills, they had decided it would be best if Lucy kept it. There were only so many times they could hide the evidence whenever one of its residents decided to barge in uninvited. At least in Lucy's apartment, the only 'uninvited lodger' was someone whom was already in on the plan.

Lucy nodded. "I've got it here." She patted her purse.

"Good. Now, onto phase two. I already—" Levy began, but the duo's discussion was suddenly interrupted by a commotion happening across the hall.

"GRAY-SAMA! JUVIA HAS A PRESENT FOR YOU!"

"I thought I had already accepted your gift… gifts, Juvia?" Gray answered hesitantly, backing away.

"No, Gray-sama! This gift is different from the Juvia body pillows and the Juvia towels and the Juvia plush toys and the Juvia cosplay book. This one is the true gift of love from Juvia to Gray-sama, all Juvia needs is for Gray-sama to hold still while she sprays this love perfume—"

Levy turned to look at Lucy. "That's funny. Juvia just said she had a—" she cut herself short, seeing the panicked expression on the celestial mage's face. Her hand was rummaging in her purse, but it didn't bring up anything.

"It's not here!" she squeaked.

The two stared at each other, their eyes widening in realisation. "Our potion!" they exclaimed in unison. Without another word, they rushed off into the direction of Gray's loud protests, elbowing and nudging people as they hurriedly weaved through the crowd.

Levy yelled. "Juvia, let go of that!"

"Love Rivals!" Juvia suddenly turned to stare at them with a dangerous gleam in her eyes. "Gray-sama is Juvia's love, not yours!"

"For the last time, we're not Love Rivals!" Lucy explained exasperatedly. "You don't have to use that on Gray!"

"No! Juvia will find out once and for all who dwells in Gray-sama's heart!"

"You don't understand!" Levy protested, reaching out to grab the perfume from her, only to be barricaded by a wall of water.

The two could only watch in horror as a puff of smoke was released in front of Gray's face, blossoming into a heart shape before it disappeared. As the smoke subsided, the ice mage shook his head and blinked a few times in confusion.

"I guess it smells nice?" he commented, frowning. "Um, if you don't need me now I'll just be going…" He turned around and left.

The colour quickly drained out of Juvia's face.

"But, but, but…" She stammered, falling to her knees. "Does that mean Gray-sama's one true love is not Juvia?!" she wailed loudly, causing everyone in the vicinity to wince and back away in horror as she began dissolving into a puddle of water.

The wall of water promptly collapsed and Levy took the opportunity to repossess their vial of perfume.

Meanwhile, Lucy tried to shout over Juvia's loud crying. "Well, we _did_ try to warn you, Juvia!" she yelled. "If you would have just stopped and listened, you'd know the perfume only works on girls!"

"And thank goodness it didn't have any weird side effects on a guy." Levy added, relieved.

At that, Juvia's cries became more subdued. After resuming human form once more, she wiped a last tear from her eye. "So, it's not that Gray-sama doesn't love Juvia?" she whimpered.

"I think he likes you enough. He didn't reject your gifts, did he?" Lucy smiled, offering her hand to her.

As if she were suddenly struck with inspiration, Juvia bounced up from her weeping position and clasped her hand.

"Thank you, Lucy-san! Now Juvia realises, the only way she can prove Gray-sama's love is…... this!" she exclaimed, promptly snatching the perfume out of Levy's hands.

Before the mages could react, Juvia turned the nozzle towards herself and pressed, releasing another heart-shaped cloud of smoke into her own face.

It was as if it happened in slow motion. Lucy and Levy couldn't do anything except watch with bated breath as the perfume began to take its effect on the water mage. It only took a matter of seconds before her eyes began to visibly dilate. _A sign that they've seen a person they're attracted to?_ Lucy speculated.

Suddenly, Juvia's body began to tremble dangerously. The celestial mage immediately gripped her best friend's arm, a look of worry on her face. "Levy-chan… is this supposed to happen?"

"I'm not sure— oof!" Levy quickly dived for the vial of perfume as it slipped out of Juvia's hands.

The water mage, on the other hand, had begun running towards the guild doors. Presumably, where a certain Fullbuster was lurking. As Lucy helped her friend off the ground, they heard a strangled yell that was almost immediately cut off, followed by a few cat calls.

It didn't take a genius to figure out what had happened.

"...at least now we know it actually works." Levy remarked wryly.

* * *

As Lucy helped Levy up from the ground, her face was noticeably pale. "I didn't think its effect would be that… powerful." she commented hesitantly.

"Don't tell me you're backing out at the final stage." The script mage raised an eyebrow.

She shook her head. "No, I said I would go through with this. It's just that for Mira-"

"Did somebody call my name?" a voice interrupted.

Horrified expressions appeared on the two girls' faces before they turned to look. Behind them, dressed in a pitch black gown with a large slit running up its side, was Mirajane Strauss. She was showing off her signature smile, but the two bookworms could sense the underlying malice. They gulped nervously.

"That's an interesting perfume you have there, Lucy, Levy." she noted.

"F-funny you should say that, Mira!" Lucy said, pinching herself for stuttering.

"May I take a look?"

The two accomplices made eye contact.

"Of course! In fact, we were just looking for you so you could try it!" Levy piped up, her voice a bit higher pitched than usual.

Lucy nodded fervently. "It really reminded us of you when we bought it." she added.

Mira eyed them silently for a moment. "Well," she began, placing her index finger on her cheek. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to try." she mused. She put her hands out in front of her to take the perfume, causing Levy to instinctively move back.

"Uhh, I can help you put it on. No problem, Mira." she said cautiously.

The takeover mage shook her head and stepped forward, closing her hands around the blunette's smaller hands and the vial. "Don't worry, I'm capable of doing it myself." she reassured with a smile.

"No, really." Levy gritted her teeth. "I insist."

"I'm fine."

"Please, allow me."

The vial shifted back and forth dangerously between each banter. While Lucy was worried that it would eventually slip from their grasp and break, she couldn't help but admire how ominous they sounded despite only uttering pleasantries this entire time.

And then, she heard a crack. Her eyes widened in panic. "Stop! You're going to break—" she began.

But as the laws governing irony would have it, the bottle _did_ slip from their hold. The glass shattered against the stone floor and smoke billowed out of the container, instead of the liquid they had expected.

They inhaled the smoke before they could even digest what was happening.

Lucy immediately felt a buzz of energy run through her entire body. She felt like her senses were on fire, but at the same time, her awareness of her surroundings were dulling. Her mind was filled with Natsu, and only Natsu. His grin, his laugh, his body, his heat. He was somewhere in this hall, and that's all she was focused on. She _wanted_ him.

Before she knew it, she was running.

"Natsu!" Lucy called out, approaching the dragon slayer at lightning speed.

For some reason, right then he looked really... _hot_. Since when did his muscles ever look this defined? He was wearing a shirt, but she could draw the outline of his body with her eyes. She wanted to explore it. His abdomen, his toned back, she wanted to run her fingers through his salmon-coloured hair, feel the warmth of his skin against her own...

Natsu turned around, finally noticing her. "Is it my turn for the revenge thing— mmph!"

Lucy wrapped her legs around his waist as she captured his lips hungrily. His lips felt hotter than usual, like it was melting into hers... or was it because she was feeling hotter than usual?

"Mmph—Lucy—What is—" Natsu gasped, trying to push her away.

"You know what day it is today, right?" she said huskily, before proceeding to nip at his ear. She briefly registered a few catcalls and whistles. But strangely enough, she didn't care. The moans coming from her lover were enough to push her further. As long as he wanted it, she would oblige.

Eventually, he pulled away, breathing heavily. "Let's get out of here, Lucy." he demanded.

Lucy nodded, throwing her arms around his neck and giving into his strong grip. That was when she snapped out of it.

She gasped. "Put me down, Natsu!" she exclaimed.

Already halfway out the doors, he stopped and gave her a blank stare. "But I thought you wanted—" he began.

"I don't! No, I mean, I do!" Lucy hastily corrected herself after seeing Natsu's disappointed face. "I was… it's Mira!"

"You are... Mira?" Natsu let her down immediately. His face contorted in horror.

"No no, Mira and Levy broke the perfume that was meant for _her_ , and we all inhaled it…" she explained hurriedly. Natsu breathed a sigh of relief while Lucy began to scan the guild in panic. "Oh Mavis, what are going to do now?" she muttered.

As she had expected, they weren't the only ones affected by the potion. The whole guild was!

She quickly spotted Levy tangled up with Gajeel in a corner of the guild, but there was also Juvia attacking Gray on a table, Bisca and Alzack locking lips while covering Asuka's eyes, Cana making out with a bottle of liquor, Max and his... Lucy looked away, wincing. What she would give to erase _that_ view from her mind.

Rubbing her temples, she tried to calm herself down. _First things first,_ she thought, _I have to 'wake' Levy up._

She grabbed Natsu by the shoulders. "I'm only going to encourage this _once_ , but could you go and start a fight with Gajeel?"

Natsu, who had been sulking due to Lucy's sudden lack of arousal immediately cheered up. "You mean it?" He exclaimed happily.

Before she could even reply, he had begun bounding towards the iron dragon slayer, his fists lighting up with fire. All that Lucy could do was shout after him: "Don't hurt Levy!"

 _Okay, now that that was taken care of, time to search for Mira._ Turns out, it wasn't too hard. The white-haired barmaid was standing in her usual spot behind the bar, looking more than a little pleased at herself.

Lucy did a double take. Why was she alone? Didn't their perfume work on her?

Noticing the celestial mage, Mirajane beamed at her. "Your perfume is wonderful, Lucy! Who knew that it would put everyone in such a loving mood?" she gushed.

"Mira, why didn't it work on you?" she questioned, her hands on her hips.

"Maybe the person she loves just isn't here." Levy noted, coming up from behind her. Her hair was in a mess and she seemed slightly short of breath, but otherwise, fine.

Lucy frowned. "But the only people that are not here are—"

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE, YOU BRATS?!" Master's voice boomed from the guild's entrance, successfully 'awakening' the remaining couples that had been affected by the love perfume and causing the guild to erupt in a series of confused chatter.

Distracted by the sudden noise, Lucy and Levy didn't even notice Mira had disappeared until they saw the back of her white head of hair zipping through the crowd.

They gasped at the same time, having come to the same conclusion.

"But that means—"

" _No_ , it couldn't be—"

Disgusted expressions were plastered on their faces as they watched the barmaid get closer and closer to where Makarov was standing. After awhile, Lucy closed her eyes. "Ugh, Levy, I don't think I can watch this."

There was a long silence.

Suddenly, the guild erupted into gasps and surprised noises. Levy screamed, yanking onto Lucy's arm. "You have to look! Lu-chan, open your eyes!"

"I swear, Levy-chan, I've already been traumatised today. This better not be...… Oh. My. God." Lucy gaped.

Turns out, Master hadn't been alone after all.

The person he was with was currently pinned to the ground, quite helpless as Mirajane grinded into him provocatively. The entire guild watched in awed silence as she leaned down to suck on his neck, fingers exploring his broad body as she worked.

Much to everyone's horror, her victim eventually let out a lusty groan which turned into a growl as he grabbed onto Mira's shoulders and began to kiss her back passionately. "L-laxus…" she moaned loudly, causing everyone to wince.

Lucy couldn't decide whether to be embarrassed for them or completely disgusted.

Next to her, Levy seemed to have enough wits about her to point a finger into the air and murmur: "Solid Script: Camera." When one appeared out of thin air, she dazedly took a picture. And good thing she did, because immediately after that, Mira suddenly pushed herself off him, gasping.

"What's wrong, baby?" Laxus purred, causing goosebumps to crawl up everyone's skins. They did not need to hear that… or see _any_ of that, actually.

Meanwhile, Mirajane's face went completely crimson as she digested her surroundings. Her eyes flitted from his smirking face, to her fallen dress strap, to the archway of the guild's entrance; her face turned paler by the second.

Behind her, Makarov was already as pale as a ghost. "Laxus… Mirajane… you…" he pointed at them, his finger trembling.

"M-m-m-master! I c-can explain!" Mira stuttered.

Makarov's face began to turn pink. "P-p-punishment! For the both of you!" he yelled.

Mirajane looked like she was going to die of embarrassment, and even Laxus' eyes widened in shock. "Oi oi. Why are we getting punished, gramps?" he grumbled. "As if it's any of _your_ business if I get a girlfriend."

"WHAT?!" everyone seemed to yell at the same time. Lucy and Levy looked at each other ecstatically. Were they really hearing what they were hearing right now?

"W-wh-when?!" Makarov paled.

'W-well, we didn't want to tell anybody but—" Mira began, shyly.

"A year ago." Laxus interrupted.

"One year?! That's longer than yours and my relationship combined!" Lucy whispered to Levy, who nodded furiously.

Meanwhile, it looked like Makarov had lost all his will to fight. "My Laxus… Dating… One year…" He mumbled dazedly. Suddenly, he collapsed onto the ground.

The uproar that followed was fantastic.

* * *

Turns out, Makarov was a lot more protective of his grandson than he cared to admit. When he finally came to, the three of them had a long chat about hiding things from him, choosing life partners, and well, a lot of other nonsensical arguments. (Lucy and Levy got the dragon slayers to eavesdrop for them.)

As for the picture Levy took? They still kept it. Even though Mira didn't try anything for a very long time, it helped keep the tables turned when she did begin again. All it took was one flash of it for her to abandon any funny ideas. They even loaned it to Gray one day, when he found the barmaid conspiring with Juvia.

Long story short, thanks to that, the two of them finally got the peace they wanted. And despite how much Mira hated the existence of it, even she seemed more relaxed now that she didn't have to hide her relationship.

That is, until one day, Lucy and Levy lost the picture.

But that's a story for another day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew, that's the end of it. I haven't been inspired to write for Fairy Tail at all lately, but reading this as I reposted it brought back some good memories ^^

**Author's Note:**

> Since Christmas is coming soon, I decided to repost my old fanfic from FF.net. It's a completed work, so read on and I hope you enjoy!


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